Rajasthan's fairytale win provides a rare spark

Rajasthan retain Ranji Trophy by virtue of first-innings lead

It has been a long, hard road back to the top and last year their efforts were crowned with success as they got the better of two strong challengers in Mumbai and Tamil Nadu on their way to the final where after a keen duel for supremacy they overcame favourites and home side Baroda to inscribe their names on the glittering trophy for the first time and finally scale the summit after finishing runners-up eight times.

The twin triumphs are all the more creditable as they have been achieved without one player in the national team. Akash Chopra played the last of his ten Tests in 2004 and Hrishikesh Kanitkar the last of of his two Tests and 34 ODIs 12 years ago. Pankaj Singh has played just one ODI two years ago.

Indeed the first Ranji Trophy game that I followed avidly on radio was the 1960-61 semifinal between Madras (now Tamil Nadu) and Rajasthan. I clearly remember that after taking the first innings lead Madras playing at home had only to get 184 runs to win on the final day of the four-day match. But the
spin trio of Subash Gupte, Vinoo Mankad and Salim Durrani worked havoc and Madras were shot out for 116.

That signaled Rajasthan's maiden entry into the final but as I said Bombay repeatedly put a spoke in the wheel. It seemed fated that Rajasthan would
forever remain the bridesmaid and never the bride. In 1973-74 Rajasthan had another chance to win the title. They made the final and this time there was no Bombay to pull the rug from under their feet. But Karnataka did what had become a habit for Bombay and despite playing at home Rajasthan went down again.

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If they failed in their final objective what with Bombay being a formidable side (and Karnataka too for that matter) Rajasthan certainly deserved to be second
best for they too had many players who had donned the India cap. Vinoo Mankad and Subhash Gupte were nearing the end of their careers when the Rajasthan success story started but Salim Durrani, Rusi Surti, Vijay Manjrekar and Hanumant Singh were their stalwarts during the sixties. In addition there was
GR Sunderam who had played two Tests for India in the fifties as a medium pacer, Suryaveer Singh an accomplished opening batsman and elder brother of
Hanumant, Kailash Gattani an all rounder talented enough to lead the Indian schools team in the sixties and leg spinner CG Joshi who had an excellent
record in domestic cricket.

The captaincy changed hands between Kishen Rungta and Raj Singh the former an attacking middle order batsman and the latter a capable medium pace bowler before Hanumant took over. In the late sixties and early seventies the batting was bolstered by Parthasarathy Sharma who went on to play five Tests in the period 1974-1977. Invariably Rajasthan provided the nucleus of the Central Zone side in the Duleep Trophy and Durrani was the star of their maiden triumph in the Duleep Trophy in 1971-72, the side being led by Hanumant.

Rajasthan made their debut in the Ranji Trophy in 1935-36 playing as Rajputana. The state was renamed Rajasthan in the mid fifties and the golden period
commenced with the active backing of the Maharana of Mewar. With Mankad and Manjrekar who were registered professionals with the BCCI joining them the team became stronger and it was only a matter of time before they launched a serious bid to win the Ranji Trophy. It is another matter that it has taken so long for them to emerge champions but then this also symbolizes what hard work, patience and perseverance can achieve.



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