Ranji Trophy 2024-25: Baroda coach hails confidence boost; Mumbai captain Rahane hopes spinners learned their lessons

Mumbai had several opportunities to put Baroda under the cosh in both of the home team’s batting innings. However, the host prevailed in the end.

File picture: “Baroda clearly played better cricket than us overall,” said Mumbai captain Ajinkya Rahane. | Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI

The last time Baroda beat Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, Yogendra Wakaskar, the new-ball bowler, starred with a nine-wicket match haul at the Wankhede Stadium in the 1998-99 season. A bespectacled Wakaskar – now a member of the senior selection panel – was as thrilled as anyone else present at the Vadodara International Cricket Stadium on Monday morning.

As Wakaskar reminisced, he and his two colleagues at the venue – chief selector Prayan Dave and Umang Patel – were equally delighted with the manner in which Krunal Pandya led the team to a memorable victory against the 42-time champion.

The celebrations extended into the Baroda dressing room as well. Mukund Parmar, the head coach and a Gujarat stalwart for two decades, was thrilled to have been part of his first win against Mumbai. Far from indulging in nostalgia, the veteran coach also refrained from framing the 84-run win as revenge for last year’s quarterfinal exit in Mumbai.

“It is not revenge and all. What’s past is past,” Parmar said. “It obviously gives a huge boost to the confidence of the squad to have started the season by beating the defending Ranji and Irani champions, and the domestic giants, in such a convincing manner. Our skill sets have never been in doubt. I am delighted with how the boys responded under pressure.”

Learning curve

Mumbai had several opportunities to put Baroda under the cosh in both of the home team’s batting innings. Baroda posted a respectable 290 on a turning track after being reduced to 90 for five in the first innings. In the second, from a precarious 41 for six, the last four wickets added 144 runs to wrest the game away from Mumbai.

“We created opportunities, but the 130-run partnership in the first innings (between Mitesh Patel and Atit Sheth) proved decisive. Baroda clearly played better cricket than us overall. I just hope it’s a lesson for our spinners. I am confident we will continue to improve as a team,” Rahane told Sportstar.