Star all-rounder Tanush Kotian wins "Player of the Tournament" award after fantastic display with the bat and ball

Mumbai’s Tanush Kotian at Wankhede yesterday. Pic/PTI

Mumbai all-rounder Tanush Kotian not only claimed 29 wickets and scored 502 runs in the Ranji Trophy season. He also captured the most important wicket - Vidarbha captain Akshay Wadkar (102) - to help the hosts win their 42nd Ranji title.

Great final for offie

Kotian's 3-7 in the first innings and 4-95 in the second essay earned him the Player of the tournament award. "Last season, we failed to qualify for the knockouts by just one point. And I think it was because I failed to get that one run against Maharashtra in the last league game despite playing well in that innings," he said.

Also Read: Bowling out Vidarbha cheaply in first dig was critical: Sandeep Patil

The agony of it all

Kotian revealed that he used to wake up in cold sweat thinking about that Maharashtra game. "That was a big regret for me. But now, with this performance and victory, I can have good sleep and I don't need to regret that game." Kotian told mid-day on Thursday.

Despite a thumb injury, Kotian scored a fighting 93 against Maharashtra in that drawn game. When asked how he planned to get Wadkar's wicket on Thursday, he said he had to look at Plan B.

Also Read: "MUM displayed khadoos batting and never allowed us to be in the game": Wadkar

"There was a lot of frustration as Wadkar was playing well. He survived on plenty of occasions when we appealed for LBW and at the same time, we didn't have a review left. He and Harsh Dubey [65] were building a partnership, so I thought I may get Wadkar leg before while bowling round the wicket. That plan succeeded. We had to struggle a lot for that one wicket, but finally I got rewarded. It feels good to be Player of the tournament," Kotian signed off.

Talk

Sachin Tendulkar @sachin_rt
Many congratulations to
@MumbaiCricAssoc on winning their 42nd Ranji Trophy! Vidarbha's resilience added to the spectacle, especially Karun, Akshay & Harsh, who batted extremely well and made the match very interesting. Mumbai's bowlers kept bowling relentlessly, and finally the breakthrough was provided by Tanush, who picked up four wickets in the 4th innings. A fantastic display of cricket that had us all captivated. This is what makes domestic cricket so very important.