Gujarat’s Manprit Juneja Relishes Ranji Trophy Triumph
Jan 15, 2017 at 6:34 PM
Gujarat have made history at Indore as they clinched their maiden Ranji Trophy after winning the final with five wickets against Mumbai chasing a tricky 311 in the fourth innings.
It was not an easy chase for Gujarat as Mumbai bowlers have tested their patience as eventually Parthiv Patel (143) and Manprit Juneja (54) played valuable contributions to help Gujarat win the most coveted trophy in Indian domestic circuit.
Speaking to BCCI.tv, Manprit Juneja, who was involved in an 116 run partnership with Parthiv, said: “It hasn’t sunk in at all. We are so happy, so ecstatic I can’t tell you! We just don’t want this moment to ever end.”
“Both of us are pretty aggressive in our batting ways. Today (Day 5) when I went in to bat, I was pretty clear in my mind, (that) we don’t want to defend the day out. We want to chase it and we discussed it. We just wanted to go after the bowling because that was the only way we could get rid of the pressure. Once the boundaries started flowing, the momentum shifted on our side.”
Speaking about his valuable contribution in the Ranji final, Juneja said: “It feels great. The only thing that I have always been thinking of while playing for Gujarat is that I want to help Gujarat become Ranji Trophy champions. I am so happy that I have been part of this brilliant side in winning all the championships that we have till now – the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (T20), the Vijay Hazare Trophy (one-day) and now the Ranji Trophy. It feels great to have contributed on such an important day. This is what we worked hard for the entire year.”
Coach Vijay Patel has also spoken high off the youngster who have put his head down and batted in the best possible manner to give Gujarat an upper hand by the time he was dismissed.
“Manprit rose to the occasion. Even in the earlier matches when it mattered, he knew how to handle the pressure and he did it for Gujarat today as well.
“All the players knew the importance of the match. If we win, we were going to make history. So, they were also very enthusiastic,” Vijay Patel added.