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Ranji Trophy final: Sloppy Mumbai have only themselves to blame for historic loss to Gujarat

[…]When he eventually went, he was frustrated about not seeing it through till the very end, and walked back a dejected man. For context, he had scored 143 of the required 312 runs, and Gujarat only needed 13 to get past the finish line at that point. Mumbai’s gradual meltdown on the final day still feels barely believable, and, while with their inexperienced bowling attack this is still a creditable achievement, they are not a side who have ever settled for silver.

Ranji Trophy: Prithvi Shaw's authoritative innings is testament to Mumbai’s cricket talent - Firstpost

The hundred also makes him the second youngest first-class centurion for Mumbai after, hush hush, you-know-who. If nothing else, this is a testament of Mumbai cricket’s place as a special outlier among India’s cricketing circles. Teenage prodigies are belted out from the school cricket production line with a frequency that only alarms the rest of the country. Kids post mammoth individual scores in tournaments that are covered extensively by local media. Not a day goes by without someone talking about the khadoos spirit that defines the sport in the city.

Australia vs Pakistan: Stern Boxing Day test for buoyant Misbah and Co at fortress MCG - Firstpost

The fixture itself, though, is a visitors’ nightmare, with only three wins in the past 20 years, since the end of West Indies’ lengthy period of dominance. In this period, only South Africa (once) and England (twice), have put it past the Australians, in front of intimidating crowds which Ian Chappell once memorably described as “an atmosphere so charged that it would make the Christians feel like the Coliseum was a home game.” In the middle of the grand theatre that is the MCG, you can only empathise if visiting sides experience a vertigo inducing effect a la Paul Kelly’s Leaps and Bounds, shot not very far from the arena.