Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has raised concerns over Ranji Trophy format where the team with the first-innings lead progress if the match ends in a draw. His comments came after Mumbai secured a final berth by virtue of the first innings lead against Uttar Pradesh.
After posing 393 in their first innings, Mumbai bundled out their opposition for 180. In their second innings, they batted 156 overs and scored 533/4 as the match ended in a plain draw.
Describing the “first-innings” rule as a bad advertisement for the Ranji Trophy on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said:
“Mumbai deserved to progress to the final but their lead (at end of Day 4) was 662 runs. This is a problem with the format and that’s my big issue. If the Ranji Trophy match winner is going to be decided on the basis of first-innings lead, then why play?”
He added:
“Mumbai did not even make an effort to win the semi-final. There was no intention to push for a victory. After getting the first-innings lead, they kept batting on and on. This broke my heart.”
Mumbai advanced to the @Paytm #RanjiTrophy #Final on the basis of the first-innings lead after their #SF2 clash against Uttar Pradesh ended in a draw. 👏 👏 #MUMvUP
Watch the Day 5 highlights 🎥 🔽https://t.co/ppa3dcAx0R pic.twitter.com/NBspfo3HSR
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) June 18, 2022
Mumbai, who reached the final for the 47th time, will lock horns against Madhya Pradesh in the summit clash.
“Mumbai will start as firm favourites” – Aakash Chopra on Ranji Trophy final
The cricketer-turned-commentator termed Prithvi Shaw’s Mumbai as the the firm favourites to win the title. Aakash hailed young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal for scoring hundreds in both innings of the semi-finals.
“Mumbai have made yet another Ranji Trophy final and will start as firm favorites. Yashasvi Jaiswal has shown that he can be a defender as well as destructor. It was only his third first-class match and to score hundreds in both innings against a good UP side was a commendable effort,” he added.
The Ranji Trophy 2022 final will be played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru from June 22 to 26.
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