Mumbai vs Vidarbha, Final at Mumbai, Ranji Trophy, Mar 10 2024 - Match Result

Here's the special moment. Ajinkya Rahane takes the trophy and then calls Kulkarni to hold it next. The players now get together for a picture of a lifetime. Mumbai, the most-successful team in Indian cricket history, once again reign supreme. Festive atmosphere at the Wankhede Stadium, and that's what we'll leave you with. Thank you for your time this domestic season. Bye bye, and long live Ranji Trophy cricket!

2.02pm The Mumbai squad members collect their individual awards now. We'll hear from winning captain Ajinkya Rahane at the end of it. Before a chat, he collects a cheque of INR 5 crore. Here he is now: "Before speaking about my team, I want to talk about Vidarbha's efforts. The way they played, the way they fight... it is not easy when chasing 538 and it is very easy to give up. But they didn't give up. The way they've been playing last 7-8 years, really good to see them fight back. Now about our own team, this is a very special moment. Tanush mentioned we were all working hard. Last season we were very hurt when we didn't qualify by one run. That hurt a lot. So we started to work on focusing a good culture and fitness set-up this past year. Want to thank the association for giving us what we needed to succeed. Very satisfying. (Personal front) Ups and downs keep coming in any player's life. I don't think about it. I may have scored the least runs but I am the happiest that we have won this season. In a team sports you can contribute in various ways, not just as a batter. Cricketers go through phases and you have to respect it. You work hard everyday to succeed. (Future) Before moving ahead, we have to celebrate tonight. We'll see after that. We've had a very long season, so when we return in June, we'll think of plans then. I want to credit the support staff actually. Our season started in June. (Kulkarni) Whatever I say about him will be less. We have played since U-14s. We have toured for India too. His contributions to Mumbai cricket is worth learning about. The experience he has shared with the fast bowlers in the last 3-4 years, his guidance, they have been crucial. I want to wish him in his future life, whether commentary or coaching [laughs], but I wish him the best."

Suyog: "Not underestimating Musheer's contribution, in my opinion, Thakur should have been MoM. He saved Mumbai in first innings with bat and ball both."

1.58pm The presentations continue. Akshay Wadkar, captain of Vidarbha collects the runner-up trophy for 2023-24 and also a cheque for INR 3 crore: "(Reflecting on the first-innings score) You get an innings like this in a campaign and sadly it came in the final. Our batting was clicking through the season but in a big game, we had to ensure we bat well. We bowled Mumbai out for 224 and we had a chance to get a big score, but Mumbai bowled well, Kulkarni bowled well. Our openers and top-order got out early before the ball could settle, and it is always tough to come back from there to put up a good score. (Pitch) It was getting difficult through the days, but the way Mumbai's batters showed determination and courage, Musheer and Ajju pa (Ajinkya) batted remarkably. And then Iyer's quick innings took the game away from us. It just didn't happen. (Batting with Dubey today) We wanted to frustrated their bowlers and use that to score runs. We wanted to survive the first hour because that's when wickets can fall. We were thinking of using this partnership as the last realistic partnership. (Looking back on the season) We worked very hard on fielding. Atul Ranade sir told us to do atleast five-minute fielding drills daily. That has worked somewhere. We took outstanding catches, against Haryana for eg. by Rathod, that turned games around."

Vishal Pawar : "As a hardcore Mumbai fan I want our team to surpass the NSW Blues tally of 47 Sheffield Shield titles. With next gen players like Musheer everything is possible."

1.50pm The irreplaceable Vivek Razdan starts the presentation ceremony. He recites some poetic lines before announcing a special award for Dhawal Kulkarni. "76 Ranji matches, 242 wickets, what a player he has been" he says.

Musheer Khan, only 19, is the Player of the Match for his century and important wickets: "(His century) It was an important innings because it was a final. Wanted to stand up for the sake of Mumbai and make a partnership with whichever partner I had. (Batting with Rahane) I had good fun with him. He was making me understand what to do. Told me to bat with a straight bat. (To be part of Mumbai team) Moment of pride to share the dressing room of Mumbai with some great players. We wanted to win the 42nd title and worked hard. Personally, I want to focus on the present and not look ahead."

Tanush Kotian, for his all-round performances through the season, is the Player of the Series. 500+ runs and 29 wickets this season. Here he is: "At the start of the season, we thought we were runners-up two seasons ago and didn't qualify for the knockouts for one run last season. So we were very motivated inside the team to change things around this season especially. (His cricket this season) Last season I played well so I was confident but also knew I had to improve. My father and batting coach helped me and Ajinkya taught me how to get to hundreds. (The future) The way I improved over the last two seasons, I guess hardwork is the way to go. We have coaches, seniors and India players in our set-up. Will take their advice and try to come back stronger. (Team environment) The way we started the season, we knew we would do well but we knew the knockouts wouldn't be easy. Not easy to play 10 games. Bowlers did well and batters supported too. Batters showed temperament down the order too. Felt like a team effort."

Stat alert: Rahane becomes the 26th Mumbai captain of win the Ranji Trophy.

Maiden Ranji winner Shams Mulani: Everyone contributed this season, and people stood up when it was needed. (His all-round contributions) I think about what the team needs in whichever department. We knew we'd make a comeback even though we were put in a tough situation today."

Mustafa Moudi: "While Sarfaraz has a great debut against England in the recently concluded series, Musheer scored a Century in the 2nd innings with the Bat and 2 Wickets with the Ball. The Khan Brothers are shining at the same time !!"

Shardul Thakur: Very special. In my debut season also we won. And in our last few wins we did it without any senior players. Ranji Trophy is very special. Everyone in the team and staff are working very well. We've been working hard since June and to win in March feels very special. (Thakur's Ranji contributions this season) It is fun to play in challenging situations, I enjoy that. Easy situations can be conquered by anyone. I like to bring my team back from tough situations and then put psychological pressure on my opponents. In both my batting performances, we managed to do that."

Dhawal Kulkarni: It's a cricketer's dream to start on a high and end on a high. This final is very close to me because this is my sixth final and fifth final win. Very good gesture from Rahane to give me the ball when they were nine down. I wasn't expecting it because Tushar was bowling well. Rahane told me to finish the job. (Looking back) Experience with the seniors helped me a lot, and I have also tried to pass on the experience to the youngsters." Bows out after a 16-year Mumbai first-class career.

1.30pm Time for celebrations as Mumbai win their 42nd title! Ends the drought since their last triumph in 2015-16. Kulkarni, Rahane and the youngsters are all overjoyed. Shreyas Iyer is out there too. Hugs for Kulkarni from his team-mates as he bows out of the Mumbai team. He and Rahane lead the team out with Shaw and co grabbing a stump for keeps. This is their fourth title of the domestic season (both men's and women's) to add to two runner-up medals in 2023-24.

Spare a thought for Vidarbha who go down fighting. The first-innings deficit of 115 was way too much on a surface that wasn't bad for batting. Their score of 109 came at the worst possible time in their Ranji Trophy campaign, and their quest for a third title will have to wait. Wadkar and Dubey tried to rewrite history but eventually the side fell 169 short.

Abhijeet: "Dhaval Kulkarni gets a wicket of the last ball of his professional career and that too championship wicket. What a moment

There's a buzz around the stadium.

One wicket to go. Change in bowling.

Hello again, all. Umesh and Thakur try to do the impossible.

1.25pm Sreshth is back to take you through to the finish. Cheers

Ananya: "@Guru.... you have jinxed both the set batters...and condemned Vidharba to defeat....! oh... no....!"

Umesh walks out to bat at No.10

Venkat: "Having conceded such a big lead in the first innings, Vidarbha were always doing catching up , but even trying to chase down 538 is a herculean effort, my heart goes out to VIDHARBA for the fight everyone has shown and having taken it this far. Mumbai had to fight it out for every wicket, hopefully they have to fight for the remaining 3 wickets."