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Madhya Pradesh scripted history as they defeated Mumbai to lift their first-ever Ranji Trophy title in history. The MP team had to chase 108 runs in the final innings, which they comfortably did thanks to crucial knocks by Rajat Patidar, Shubham S Sharma and Himanshu Mantri. But Patidar was one of the few players who received special treatment from the crowd.
As Rajat Patidar played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2022, spectators at the M.Chinswammy Stadium were heard chanting ‘Patidar Bhai'. The loud cheer for the 29-year-old continued as he finished off the game with a single towards cover-point to win the game for Madhya Pradesh.
It is emotional because I missed out as captain on the same ground: Pandit
During the post-game interview, MP coach Chandrakant Pandit got emotional as he was part of the last MP team that lost in the Ranji Trophy final to Mumbai in 1999. Reacting to their win, Pandit said, “It is a great memory that I had left 23 years back (he lost the Ranji Trophy final as MP captain in 1998-99) and it is a blessing that I come back here, and winning this trophy was fabulous. It is emotional because I missed out as captain on the same ground.”
I had left something 23 years back: Pandit
“There is no particular reason but I look for a challenging job where the teams are not doing well, there also should be youngsters and to develop that particular state. I used to play for MP and played for them for six years, I knew the culture and when the offer came to me in March, I did not hesitate,” Pandit continued.
“There were a couple of offers but I chose MP because I had left something 23 years back and God willingly brought me back to the same state. Sometimes the talent is there but you need to develop the culture and whatever the game demands I try to inculcate them,” he added.