Only in September 2016 did India play their historic 500th Test when they took the field against New Zealand in Kanpur. On Thursday, when Aditya Tare leads a near-full strength Mumbai team against a young and rebuilding Baroda outfit, history will be made when the domestic powerhouse will play their 500th Ranji Trophy match at their hallowed turf, the Wankhede Stadium.
That Indian and Mumbai cricket go side by side is not an exaggerated statement. Such has been the dominance of Mumbai (or Bombay as it was earlier) team in Indian cricket that they still command the respect that they had throughout the 83 previous editions.
The accolades Mumbai have earned right through the years have been such that the opposition teams saw them in awe when they were on the field and looked up to their benchmarks. And, the number of quality cricketers that Mumbai have given to the national team has been immense. That Mumbai dominated from the west zone and the fact that they entered 46 Ranji Trophy finals, winning 41 of them and finishing runner-up in the other five, meant they got to play the knockouts on a regular basis, and hence more matches a season.
India Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane will be in the exclusive one-member club of having played in India’s 500th Test and will be appearing in his Ranji side’s landmark match before joining the national team for the home series against Sri Lanka next week.
Rohit Sharma, the limited-overs deputy to Virat Kohli, would miss out on this as he has just finished with the limited-overs series against New Zealand.
While Tare and his team, which also includes the exciting batsman Shreyas Iyer, who made his international debut in the just-concluded T20 series against the Kiwis, will feel proud of being the chosen few to be part of the momentous occasion on the field, they will not get overawed by it.
The eve of the Ranji 500 was like any other. The players were not thinking too much about it. It was business as usual, the regular net session followed by players trooping in batches from their home dressing to the Mumbai Cricket Association conference hall for a team meeting before they dispersed, with Rahane driving his own car to his abode.
Tare said on the match eve: “It is a special game for us. It is a great feeling to be playing the 500th Ranji Trophy game for a terrific side. It is going to be a great game for us. We feel we are quite fortunate to be the squad that will be playing the 500th game. There has been a huge contribution right from the inception of Mumbai cricket. Fortunately, it is us who are playing the milestone game. Congratulations to everyone who has been part of the Mumbai team.”
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