END OF OVER:5 | 16 Runs | VIDAR: 32/1
- Wasim Jaffer17 (17b)
- Sanjay Raghunath9 (10b)
- Kulwant Khejroliya3-0-21-1
- Akash Sudan2-0-7-0
5.25pm Whoops. Sanjay Jagdale drops the Ranji Trophy, then picks it up and hands it over to Fazal. The lid has fallen. But, Vidarbha's rise has been the story of the season. They end the season unbeaten and walk away with their maiden Ranji title after playing 266 matches, spanning five decades. Many thanks for tuning in. That's a wrap of this Ranji season. Do come back to the site for post-match pieces from Vishal Dikshit. Until then, goodbye. Happy new year, everyone
Vijeet Rathi: "What a commanding performance! Well done, Vidarbha. I had seen the lows and now I have seen the high point as well.
cooljalz: "As a Nagpurian and someone who loves to play and watch cricket, this is one of the most memorable days of my life. When I was a kid, it seemed impossible to ever see Vidarbha winning any domestic trophy. We always had a hard working team but never got any success to show for it. But today the dreams of all those players and all Vidarbha cricket fans have come true."
5.15pm Time for the presentation.
Fazal, Vidarbha captain: It [The win] is no less than a fairytale. We worked even before the season - months of training. This [pitch] was just a belter and the way the bowlers did was brilliant. Aditya Thakare picked up a wicket in the first over on debut and that set the tone for us. Because he has some nerves, I thought that will release the pressure. Also, even when Umesh was there, Gurbani bowled the second over. Him bowling the second over is lucky for us. This is really a team effort, including Chandu sir and the whole support staff. We all believed this trophy could be ours, and we were working towards it. I did not start well, and after that I got five hundreds in five ways. I and Sanju [Sanjay Ramaswamy] enjoy each other's company.
Rajneesh Gurbai, who became only the second bowler after TN's Kalyanasundaram to claim a hat-trick in a Ranji Trophy final is the Man of the Match: Changes were a lot to do with the mind. Right from the first game, we had in the back of our mind that we need to win the trophy, and we have finally done that on a special day. They (Pandit and Subroto) are the two main persons because of whom we have done so well. A big thank you to Chandrakant sir who has made tehnical changes in my bowling. Same with Subroto sir as well, when he is around, I have nothing to worry about. It's the New Year's day as well, so we will definitely celebrate.
Pant, Delhi captain: As I said the team that plays good cricket wins. Unfortunately, it was a bad game for us in the final. Throughout the season we have played good cricket, but in the final we were bad. It has been a great experience [leading the team], thanks to the DDCA and Gautam bhaiyya. Delhi cricket is growing nicely, and we are looking to win in every level - Under-19, Ranji Trophy. The coach and staff and supported us well. Sorry, guys.
Right, we've got a few flash interviews coming up
Aditya Thakare: I was nervous initially, but once I got the wicket, I was pumped up.
Rajneesh Gurbani: Obviously this is a dream come true. We always kept dreaming of this, now we have the trophy finally. We're satisfied, we still want to feel how this trophy feels. Our aim will be to continue to do better.
Ganesh Satish: We believed we could win from day one, you can see now. I think the game against Bengal, where we won away gave us a lot of self-belief. Then beating a team like Karnataka in such a close game was amazing. They're a great side, I have nothing to prove, that gave us self-belief.
Akshay Wadkar: I'm unable to express in words how happy I am at the moment.
Aditya Sarwate: I backed my batting strengths. As an allrounder, if things don't work out with the bat, you have to do it with the ball and the other way round. Very happy.
Nine finals, nine wins for Jaffer. He's hit the winning runs for the first time.
5.00pm Chandrakant Pandit, Subroto Bannerjee and members of the support staff join the team in the middle as they huddle around and come up with their victory chant. What a moment this. Faiz Fazal is elated, he can't contain his joy, every member of the side comes around to give him a big bear hug. What a season he's had. One of the most hardworking cricketers, who has been around for 15 seasons now, finally has tasted Ranji success. And he's led from the front too, scoring nearly 900 runs and five hundreds in a magnificent season.
Hussain: "This is so good for the advert of Ranji trophy. Amazing! I hope Ranji now gets the attention which it truly deserves."
Nitesh Budhlani: "Winning for the the first time and winning with a big margin shows how good vidharbha has been in this season..congrats guys ..proud moment for a Nagpurian!!"