Ranji Trophy 2016/17, stats review: From Gujarat's highest successful chase in final to Rishab Pant's triple ton

Gujarat defeated Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy 2016/17 final match by chasing down a target of 312 runs with five wickets to spare and clinched their first ever Ranji Trophy title. [caption id=“attachment_3204426” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Gujarat cricket team pose with GCA officials after their Ranji trophy title victory over Mumbai. PTI[/caption] This was the fifth time that Mumbai lost a final match of the Ranji Trophy. Before this match, they had lost a Ranji Trophy final against Haryana at Mumbai in 1990/91 by just two runs. Mumbai played ten finals between the two defeats and won all of them. Gujarat became the 17th team to win a Ranji Trophy title. Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel made 143 runs in the fourth innings of the match, which eventually became the highest score by a player in a successful run-chase in the fourth innings of a Ranji Trophy final. The previous highest in a successful chase in a Ranji Trophy final was 137*, made by Edulji Aibara for Hyderabad in 1937/38. The total which Gujarat chased in this Ranji Trophy is also the highest successful chase in a Ranji Trophy final. This is also the highest successfully chased target for Gujarat in a Ranji Trophy match, beating the target of 259 runs which they chased against Assam at Guwahati in 2003. This successful chased target of 312 by Gujarat is also the highest by any team against Mumbai in a Ranji Trophy match, beating 294 by Punjab in 2004-05. Here is a wrap-up of the major records set in this season of the Ranji Trophy:

Priyank Panchal from Gujarat made 1310 runs in this Ranji Trophy season at an average of 87.33 from 17 innings, which is the most by any batsman this season and the third most by any batsman in a single Ranji Trophy season. Only two batsmen had made more runs than Panchal in a Ranji Trophy season – VVS Laxman and Shreyas Iyer.

The Mumbai captain and wicket-keeper beat his own record of having the most dismissals by a wicket-keeper in a Ranji Trophy season, which he had set in 2015/16. In this season, he made 53 dismissals, five more than his tally from 2015/16.

Gujarat’s Samit Gohel made 359* runs against Orissa in Jaipur in this Ranji Trophy season, which became the joint fourth most by a player in a Ranji Trophy match. His score of 359* in that match is now the highest by an opener carrying the bat in a First Class match. He faced 723 balls in that innings and it is now the sixth longest innings in-terms of balls faced in a First Class match. Gohel’s 359* is also the highest by a Gujarat batsman, beating Priyank Panchal’s 314 which he made against Punjab earlier in the same season. It is also the second highest in a team’s second innings in a First Class match. The record is held by Don Bradman, who scored 452 runs in New South Wales’ second innings against Queensland at Sydney in 1930.

Maharashtra skipper Swapnil Gugale and his team-mate Ankit Bawane added 594* runs in a Ranji Trophy match against Delhi at Mumbai, which became the most by any pair for any wicket in Ranji Trophy history. It also became the second highest for any wicket in a First Class match. The highest for any wicket in a First Class match is 624, made by Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene in 2006 against South Africa at Colombo (SSC).

Rishabh Pant became the seventh wicket-keeper to score a triple century in a First Class match against Maharashtra at Mumbai. He also became the fourth youngest batsman to score a triple-century in a First Class game. Rishabh Pant’s 308 is also the second highest by a Delhi batsman in a Ranji Trophy match. The record is held by Raman Lamba, who scored 312 against Himachal Pradesh at Delhi in 1994.

In the Group A match against Baroda, Devendra Bundela (Madhya Pradesh) became the most capped player in Ranji Trophy history. He broke the record of Amol Muzumdar, who appeared in 136 matches. Among the current players, Mithun Manhas is the next with 135 caps.

Shahbaz Nadeem took 56 wickets in this season, which is the fifth most by any bowler in a Ranji Trophy season. He took 51 wickets in Ranji Trophy 2015/16, and in doing so, he became the second bowler to take more than 50 wickets in two consecutive Ranji Trophy season. Kanwaljit Singh was the first bowler who took 51 wickets in 1998-99 and 62 in the next season for Hyderabad.

Let’s look at some individual records set in the Ranji Trophy 2016/17: