Mumbai in Ranji Finals for forty-eighth time out of which they have been on winning side, forty-one times and by the time this completed, forty second one has been inked. Have thought about writing multiple times about the glorious cricketing journey of Mumbai cricket and the richest history it has on anvil. One look at the three hundred and fourteen successful recipients of India test cap and one could see the impact Mumbai cricket has had on Indian journey. Almost twenty-five percentage of India test cap awardees have proudly worn Mumbai Lion on their chest, confirming their significant contribution to Team India’s cricketing pantheon.
Further analysis of those twenty-five percent and you would be amazed to see how many of those have had represented team India at the coin toss. Mumbai cricket is more known for its preference of the willow over the leather and years over years, generations over generations, Mumbai cricketing carousal has belted out some of the most skilled batsmen, they may not have been the Sehwags or Kapil Devs or Rishabh Pant in terms of entertainment but take any of the Mumbai legends and you can safely rely on them to bat for your life.
Sunil Gavaskar, one of the absolute Mumbai legends and one of the best batsmen the world cricket has seen, had an interesting story to tell about his mastery of straight drive, a skill which is easier mentioned than mastered. Sunny as he is fondly called mentioned that where he grew up, he only had to hit the ball on the ground and relatively straight which honed resulted amongst the best straight drives. Likewise, the ones who grew up on Shivaji Park or Azad or Cross maidans of Mumbai had to bat while ensuring that the ball didn’t hit them from the adjacent pitches, and they all started playing straight so as not break any windows. Everyone has seen Sachin’s or Sunny’s straight drives and even the geometry teachers might reference that as an ideal straight line.
Mumbai cricket has produced stalwarts such as Polly Umrigar, Sunny Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Ashok Mankad, Vijay and Sanjay Manjrekar, Rohit Sharma, Ravi Shastri, Ajit Wadekar, Vinod Kambli, Dilip Sardesai, Ajinkya Rahane, Sandip Patil, Wasim Jaffer, Amol Majumdar, Shreyas Iyer to name a few. These days, newer crop of Mumbai batters – Prithvi Shaw, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfraz Khan, Shivam Dube are more adventurous and not shy of taking the aerial route. Mumbai has produced some good bowlers as well over the course but if you have to pick one word to define Mumbai cricket it is batting. Mumbai batting is not about being glamorous, it is about being the Khadoos approach and resilience and putting heavy price on the wicket. Mumbai batting over the years has run other teams into submission by batting long and piling up runs on the board. Mumbai teams were known to win the toss and front load the scorecard and then sit back and win the game from there.
Mumbai has also been a unforgiving city and sons of their most famous two cricketing fathers – Sunny and Sachin both had to ply their trade elsewhere. Top two career highest run makers of Ranji trophy Wasim Jaffer and Amol Majumdar ended their careers not wearing the lion. Not that they were suddenly incapable but Mumbai doesn’t believe in hero worships and no one is above the team. What you did yesterday matters a lot but what you can do today and tomorrow is what matters more.
Mumbai has won a number of trophies in first class, limited overs and if you add T20, even IPL. Mumbai brand name has become synonymous with winning so much so that even their teams in other leagues have been bringing hardware home. You name the trophy and their cabinet boasts of one. Their hardware collection has all the domestic tournament trophies and just as Mumbai in franchise cricket, globally all the trophies at least once. Ranji has been different which they have won whopping 42 times, yes, 48 finals, 42 wins. Outrageous numbers by any stretch of imagination which also includes a 15 year straight streak in 1957-58 to 1972-73.
What makes Mumbai cricket so special? Why are the other teams not able to replicate that effort? Answer lies in fundamentals, commitment, pride, embracing the maidan culture, thinking no one is bigger than the game. When the rest of team’s cricketers are “quitting” to play red ball cricket, Mumbai cricket’s biggest names have had folklore how their legends have shown up to play Ranji games. Today’s concluded 42nd victory campaign even had who’s who of Mumbai cricket including Sachin, Rohit, Sunny, Dilip in attendance just to show support. Show me other teams where there is this sense of pride in your Ranji team and legends showing up to talk to the boys in the dressing room, give them pep talk and most importantly, teach them a thing or two about not taking things for granted while keeping it grounded. Mind you, each of these guys have had fairy tale careers and their mere presence has the showtime effect and yet, they were ready to come and watch their team.
Mumbai cricket for the uninitiated also offers the most grassroots program, right from Giles shield, Harris shield, Kanga league and these are the hurdles someone has to jump before even earning their lion crest. There is a method behind the madness because Mumbai cricket is a gradual process and like everything Mumbai, there is a roadmap and no overnight success stories. Yards have to be run to ensure you have arrived. This dressing room has had so many luminaries that one or two immediate success stories do not awe anyone, on the contrary, it is viewed with skepticism. Even the legendary Sachin Tendulkar and Sunny Gavaskar weren’t offered silver spoons, both being prodigies, Sunny Gavaskar even having a maternal uncle Madhav Mantri who captained Mumbai to couple of successful Ranji Trophy wins on his curriculum vitae.
Mumbai is a city populated with 21-22 million people so one can imagine how difficult it maybe to find only 11-15 people most qualified to represent this sample size wearing the lion on the chest. Excellence is required but more than that, it has to be a cultural fit, a resilient person who is ready to put heavy price on his wicket. Mumbai cricket is where the test players return to play Ranji and at times, even test players don’t make the team. Mumbai cricket is where your past performances do not guarantee future opportunities. You cannot rest on past laurels.
Mention of Mumbai cricket and how can you leave Wankhede stadium and cricket crazy populace of Mumbai. Interestingly, this is the 50th year of Wankhede stadium, having debuted back in 1974-75 during the decisive fifth test between India and West Indies and it witnessed one of the greatest innings from Clive Lloyd who stroked unbeaten 242 and helped Windies win the series 3-2. I have been fortunate enough to possibly view cricket there for 20 odd years including some famous games – few highlights being 1988 Abid Ali double wicket tournament which featured all the greats of cricket, 1990-91 Ranji Finals which Mumbai lost by 2 runs despite the heroics of Dilip Vengsarkar and greenhorn Sachin Tendulkar and returning from US to see India lift the World cup after 28 years in 2011 and all these left indelible mark on the psyche, have seen some brilliant individual performances, though even the iconic Brabourne Stadium has seen some marvelous stuff as well. If the happy tears from Wankhede would have been redirected to Arabian see on April 2nd 2011, the sea levels could have gone up a few notches.
Mumbai crowd was amongst the sportiest crowds and yet, highly knowledgeable in terms of the nuances of the game. One wonders at times why the city has been so rich in its cricketing acumen. Wankhede and Brabourne crowd have been appreciative of superlative performances from the rival teams and yet fiercely faithful of its own ilk. Wankhede has seen its most famous son retire in Nov. 2013 after giving it all for 24 years, Wankhede experienced the heartbreak of 1987 World Cup semis and took them 24 more years to usurp that. Brabourne saw the individual brilliance of Jonty Rhodes taking 5 catches against the Windies. Who’s who of the cricketing legends have produced some mighty results at the ground. Wankhede on the other hand was privy to the carnage inflicted on Baroda team and Tilka Raj in particular when Ravi Shastri milked him for six sixes in an over. There were some great performances from Mumbai’s own boys and even Sanath Jayasurya, Adam Gilchrist and AB De Villiers all of whom could feature in anyone’s dream hitting eleven while on the other hand, Brabourne witnessed Virender Sehwag miss out on record breaking third triple century when he scored 293 against the Sri Lankans. Mumbai has loved its heroes and made even the legends from opposing teams’ heroes when they donned Mumbai Indians blue.
With both the stadiums in close vicinity of each other and moreover the great Arabian sea, Mumbai stadiums get the breeze in the morning sessions like no other which keeps the cricket in balance. Mumbai as a city has been home to Bollywood and having heroes worshipped is no strange phenomenon. Cricket wise, there have been enough heroes to match the Tinseltown types and there has been no dearth of celebrity parade during the high-profile games. Bollywood flocks to hobnob with the cricketing tigers or should I say lions. Wankhede and Brabourne with their location have also been connoisseur’s delight as it offers huge palette of options – ice cream at K Rustom being the cherry on the cake.
Lastly, no mention of Mumbai cricket is complete without their spectators and most importantly, the North Stand Gang; I have fortunately seen a large number of games in that stand and comes from the firsthand experience. I know English have the Barmy Army and there is an equivalent, Bharat Army but Wankhede’s own North Stand gang is the sober yet strong support system that swells with Mumbai performances. They have been a treat to watch with and it’s commendable how people turn up in large numbers still. Mumbai cricket can be truly thankful to them.
I wrap this by saying that in the fiftieth year of Wankhede, Ranji trophy has returned home where it has been won and MCA (Mumbai Cricket Association) cannot be happier especially when the rest of the country wants to dabble in IPL, Mumbai cricket yet again shows, they are for purists. Khadoos Mumbai Cricketer is back, and this was the year when they played great, stayed the course and won it all. Khadoos means someone who is stubborn and making you work for their wicket here and boy, they did that.
Count out Mumbai cricket at its own peril.
