Dream come true: Hrishikesh Kanitkar

It was an honour which had eluded Hrishikesh Kanitkar even when he had captained a much-talented Maharashtra side.

Thirteen years after the former Indian player shot to fame with his gutsy winning shot against Pakistan’s Saqlain Mushtaq in the Independence Cup, the 36-year-old will go down in history books for one more reason — leading a lesser-fancied Rajasthan outfit to their maiden Ranji Trophy title on Saturday.

“It is a dream come true for me,” said Kanitkar, after he lifted the trophy at the Moti Baug Ground here. According to the winning captain, it was a complete team effort.

“We have played collectively as a unit and everyone chipped in on a regular basis. As in this final, Aakash (Chopra) and I failed but (Rashmi Ranjan) Parida and (Ashok) Menaria did the trick for us,” said Kanitkar, who has emerged as the second highest run-getter this season.

He scored 744 runs in nine (469 runs in six Plate and 275 runs in three Super League knockout) matches.

Kanitkar said the lethal combination of speedsters Pankaj Singh and Deepak Chahar, who shared 80 wickets between them, made a big difference.

“They have been outstanding this season. They have delivered the goods,” said Kanitkar, who represented Madhya Pradesh before moving to Jaipur last year.

As a leader, Kanitkar said he felt sorry for players like Vaibhav Deshpande and Sumit Mathur who were left out of the knockout stage. Deshpande scored 243 runs, while Mathur picked up 20 wickets in their six Plate League encounters.