Experienced Baroda take on unlikely challengers Rajasthan

Though the home team Baroda will be trying to win the Ranji Trophy for the sixth time, all eyes at the Moti Baug ground will be on Rajasthan, who are hoping to break the final-jinx and win the title for the first time. The two teams will lock horns in the five-day final starting on Tuesday. For the record, it will be the ninth appearance in the title clash for both the teams.

This is third final of the new millennium for Pinal Shah-led Baroda while Hrishikesh Kanitkar’s Rajasthan have entered the final for the first time after the 1974-75 epic clash against Karnataka.

The final has all the ingredients to become a pot-boiler. Baroda enjoys the home advantage, but Rajasthan, a surprise package this season, have certainly tagged themselves as worthy challengers. After emerging toppers in the Plate League, Kanitkar and his boys upset mighty Mumbai in the quarterfinals and Tamil Nadu in the semifinals.

“I guess the mantra of our success is the fine-tuning of the selection process. It was missing previously. We got players to play invitational tournaments and based on their performance, they were selected for the Ranjis. Of course their hard work has also paid off,” said Sanjay Dixit, secretary of Rajasthan Cricket Association, elated with his team’s performance.

Dixit also felt that previously Rajasthan lacked batsmen who could compliment the bowlers. “Pankaj has been spearheading our attack. Thereafter, we got a young Deepak Chahar bowling his heart out. Together they have hunted down 74 batsmen. But the biggest gain, this season, has been in the batting department. Kanitkar and Aakash Chopra along with (RR) Parida have responded well,” said Dixit.

Meanwhile, the final will be special for the home team as well, Connor Williams in particular. The left-handed opening batsman will be appearing in his third Ranji final. Williams, 37, was part of the 2000-01 winning team that beat Railways at GSFC ground. In the championship match played at the GSFC ground, the southpaw scored 65 and 41.

Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan were part of the two finals. But the former is nursing injury and the latter has shifted to Mumbai.

“Yes, this is an achievement for me. You don’t get a chance to play in the final often. I am in twilight of my cricketing career and would certainly like to make it memorable,” said Williams. When asked if he shared a few tips with his teammates on the eve of the final, Williams said, “I just told them to take this as just another match. They shouldn’t put themselves under undue pressure.”

With Yusuf Pathan and Munaf Patel away, the responsibility of the home team will rest on the young shoulders of left-arm spinners Bhargav Bhatt and Swapnil Singh and new ball-bowlers Murtuja Vahora and Sankalp Vohra.
Teams: BARODA: Pinal Shah (capt, wk), Connor Williams (VC), Ambati Rayudu, Jaikishan Kolsawala, Kedar Devdhar, Rakesh Solanki, Swapnil Singh, Bhargav Bhatt, Murtuja Vahora, Sankalp Vohra, Abhijit Karambelkar, Aditya Waghmode, Ajitesh Argal, Jyot Chhaya, Sagar Mangalorkar
RAJASTHAN: Hrishikesh Kanitkar (capt), Aakash Chopra (VC), Vineet Saxena, Vivek Yadav, Robin Bist, Rashmi Parida, Ashok Menaria, Pankaj Singh, Deepak Chahar, Rohit Jhalani, Sumit Mathur, Vaibhav Deshpande, Madhur Khatri, Nikhil Doru, Gajendra Singh