Ranji Trophy, a review

By John Cheeran
What separated Mumbai, the Ranji Trophy champions for the 37th time, from their challengers, Bengal, was the presence of pacer Zaheer Khan. For Zaheer it was his first match for Mumbai. Not many Mumbai cricketers made their debuts in the Ranji Trophy finals.
Zaheer, switching tracks from Baroda to Mumbai, delivered critical blows both in the first and second innings. He continued his hold over Sourav Ganguly when he dismissed the Bengal left-hander for another duck, the third in a row.
It was the Indian pacer’s five wicket spell in the first innings to knock out Bengal for 143 that sealed the match in favour of Mumbai.
Of course, there were splendid batting performances from Sachin Tendulkar, Wasim Jaffer, Manjo Tiwari and Sourav Ganguly.
But it was Zaheer who upended the things in the final. That’s what a match-winner should do.
Zaheer’s brilliant performance put Bengal’s promising pacer Ranadeb Bose’s dedicated efforts throughout the season in the shade.
Bose, though he got the opportunity to bowl first on a pacer-friendly track at the Wankhede, could not grab his chances. He, however, came back with vigor in the second innings to take five Mumbai wickets.
Bose has finished the season with 57 wickets at an average of 14.23.
An impressive performance indeed. It is a pity that Bose did not figure in the list of 30 for the World Cup. Cricket does not end with the World Cup.
Bose will soon get a chance to bowl for India in the post World Cup turbulence that is waiting to hit the Indian cricket.