Twitter
Advertisement

Dressing room bonhomie is secret of Mumbai's success: Sunil Gavaskar

The 68-year-old said the reason for playing 500th Ranji Trophy was because Mumbai regularly qualified for the knockouts regularly

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

One abiding memory of Sunil Gavaskar in Ranji Trophy is of him batting left-handed against Karnataka to save the match for Bombay (as Mumbai was known then).

This was the semifinal of the 1981-82 season when Karnataka left-arm spinners Raghuram Bhat and B Vijayakrishna nearly bowled their team to innings victory, only to be denied by a 'left-handed' Gavaskar.

Gavaskar always stepped up when it particularly came to Ranji Trophy battles against Karnataka. It was Karnataka that stopped Bombay's 15-year consecutive title wins in 1973-74.

Ask the legendary former India opener for his best Ranji Trophy moment, and he points out to the Bombay versus Karnataka (then Mysore) 1976-77 semifinal in Mysore that his team won by an innings and five runs.

"The match I remember most is the game where Ajit Wadekar got a triple hundred and Dilip Sardesai got a century against (EAS) Prasanna and (BS) Chandrasekhar and won the game for Mumbai," Gavaskar told DNA exclusively.

Wadekar scored his highest first-class score, 323, and Sardesai, 111 in that game.

A great story teller, Gavaskar remembered the camaraderie of the Bombay Ranji Trophy team in his playing days and that resulted in the team's unparalleled success.

"Mumbai cricket has been defined by its never give up attitude and that has not changed over the years. What is more important is that Mumbai cricket has always picked the best players and not according to caste or creed. It does not matter who you are or where you come from, it's only your cricketing ability that will get you the coveted Mumbai cap.

"In fact when we played despite the fact that there were 11 Maharashtrians and two Gujaratis in the team, the dressing room language was Gujarati. The Maharashtrians spoke better Gujarati than the Gujaratis who were murdering Marathi, so the dressing room language was Gujarati. The bonhomie that exists in the dressing room is the real secret of its success."

The 68-year-old said the reason for playing 500th Ranji Trophy was because Mumbai regularly qualified for the knockouts regularly.

"Congratulations to the Mumbai Cricket Association for its team playing the 500th Ranji trophy match," Gavaskar said. "Mumbai used to regularly qualify for the knockout stages during the days when there were no elite and plate divisions and teams were divided on zonal lines. Only one team from each zone could qualify for the knockouts. That is why it is the first team to play 500 Ranji games.

"Credit also has to be given to the administrators who strove to give the best facilities to the players and looked after them very well."

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement