How underdogs Madhya Pradesh beat 41-time champions Mumbai to lift Ranji Trophy title?

Madhya Pradesh came close to winning the Ranji Trophy title back in 1998-99 season but came up short. However, the history was not to be repeated once again as the MP Ranji team defeated Mumbai in the final to win their maiden title. Winning the Ranji Trophy title wasn't an easy task but the Aditya Shrivastava-led team played well to finish the title-winning season unbeaten.

Recap of Madhya Pradesh Ranji Trophy campaign 

Madhya Pradesh vs Gujarat

Madhya Pradesh started their Elite Group A campaign with a match against Gujarat back in February this year. MP, batting first, posted 274 runs on the board with Shubam Sharma top-scoring with 92 runs. Gujarat, in their reply, gained 57 runs lead after posting 331 runs on the board. Shubham Sharma scored a century while Rajat Patidar scored a half-century in the second innings as MP posted 251 runs setting up a target of 195 runs. MP bowlers bowled really well to win the match by 106 runs.

Madhya Pradesh vs Meghalaya

The match saw Madhya Pradesh dominating Meghalaya and registering a crushing win over their opponent.  Meghalaya scored just 61 runs in the first innings. On the other hand, MP took a lead of 438 runs after posting 499 runs on board. Meghalaya in their second innings was bowled out for 137 runs. 

Madhya Pradesh vs Kerala

The Madhya Pradesh vs Kerala match ended in a draw with MP's Yash Dubey scoring a double century. Rajat Patidar scored a century while Akshat Raghuwanshi scored a half-century.

Madhya Pradesh vs Punjab

Madhya Pradesh crushed Punjab by 10 wickets in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match and punched their way into the semi-final stage of the tournament. Kumar Kartikeya bowled brilliantly in the match picking up 7 wickets in total. Punjab, batting first, scored 219 runs. Madhya Pradesh in their reply scored 397 runs in their first innings. However, the match changed dramatically in the second innings with Punjab getting bowled out for 203 runs needing MP to score just 26 runs. 

Madhya Pradesh vs Bengal

Madhya Pradesh had to wait for 23 years to make its way into the Ranji Trophy finale. Batting first, MP posted 361 runs on board with Himanshu Mantri scoring a century. Bengal in their reply could only manage 273 runs in their first innings. MP batted again to post a total of 281 runs leaving Bengal to chase 350 runs. Kumar Kartikeya once again bowled brilliantly to pick up 5 wickets and bundle out Bengal for just 175 runs in their second innings to win the match by 174 runs. The left-arm spinner finished with a match haul of 8 for 128. 

Madhya Pradesh vs Mumbai

Ahead of MP vs MUM final, Mumbai was among the favourites to win the title coming into the final however Madhya Prashed punched above their weight to down the favourites by 6 wickets. Rajat Patidar, Yash Dubey, and Shubham Sharma contributed with the bat in MP's first innings by scoring a century. Kumar Kartikeya capped off the tournament by picking up a match haul of 5 wickets to help the team lift the title.