Maharashtra cricket team
Maharashtra cricket team: competitions
Maharashtra cricket team: First-Class Cricket Competitions
Logo Tournament Wins Years
Ranji Trophy
2
1939-40, 1940-41
Maharashtra cricket team: Limited Overs Cricket Competitions
Logo Tournament Wins Years
Vijay Hazare Trophy
0
Maharashtra cricket team: Twenty20 Cricket Competitions
Logo Tournament Wins Years
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
1
2009-2010
Maharashtra cricket team: Indian popular cricket team
The Maharashtra Professional Club was formed in the 1930s in the city of Pune in the self-titled state of Maharashtra, with a population of 126 million people. Other top teams such as the Mumbai cricket team and Vidarbha cricket team are also based in this place. Players from Maharashtra take part in 3 domestic professional tournaments: Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The Maharashtra team plays its home matches at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, which holds 37,000 people. The club has two league titles in the Ranji Trophy first-class championship and one victory in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Read a brief review about the professional cricket team!
Maharashtra cricket team – the early years
Pune is an Indian city with a population of 3 million people. It is home to the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA), a local company that oversees the Maharashtra sports team. The Association is a full member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
Maharashtra cricket team became one of the 15 teams that were able to participate in the debut season of the first-class Ranji Trophy championship. Unfortunately, the team failed to pass the 1st round, and the club lost the match to the neighboring team Bombay cricket team (now Mumbai cricket team).
Five years later (1940), the players from Maharashtra had their first success:
- According to the results of the draw, the club started the championship with the 2nd round, in which it won the match against the Western India team;
- In the 3rd round, the team was stronger than the Baroda cricket team;
- In the semi-final, the Maharashtra cricket team competed against Southern Punjab. Luck was on the side of the club from the city of Pune.
- Finally, in the final round, the team won against the Uttar Pradesh cricket team and became the Ranji Trophy champion for the first time.
The triumph happened the following year. After passing 4 pre-final rounds, the club faced the Madras cricket team (now Tamil Nadu) in the decisive match, which it actually won with an advantage of 6 wickets.
To my great disappointment, the players from Maharashtra have not seen more significant victories in the first-class championship. In the last season (2019-2020), the club was in Group C, where, according to the tournament results, it took 5th place out of 10.
Maharashtra cricket team – performances at other championships
In 1993, another professional cricket tournament called the Ranji One Day Trophy appeared in India. Unlike first-class matches, this championship has a different format. The games are held in just one day (maximum 8 hours) with a limited number of overs. For the first 9 years, the championship was held without a playoff stage. The main matches were held in 5 playing zones, where the best sports teams were determined.
In 1995, being in the Western Zone, the Maharashtra Cricket Club also managed to become the best. In 2002, the competition was renamed the Vijay Hazare Trophy (there were final rounds). Over the past 5 seasons, the best result of the team was reaching the semi-finals in 2018. The last time the club played in Group D, in which it finished the season in 3rd place out of 6.
Since 2006, the team has been participating in another championship with a limited number of overs – the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Matches of such a tournament last a maximum of 3 hours; during this time, 2 innings of 20 overs are held. Maharashtra players managed to win such a championship in 2010. Then the club dealt with the Hyderabad cricket team in the final.
A good season came out in 2019. The club successfully passed the group stage (entering the super League from 1st place) and performed well in the Super League itself. But the team could not take the 2nd championship title. In the final match, the Maharashtra cricket team lost to the players from Karnataka.
At various times, the local club was famous and is famous for such professional players as:
- Vijay Hazare (one of the tournaments is named after him);
- Shantanu Sugwekar;
- Abhi;
- Ashutosh Agashe;
- Ankit Bawne;
- Rahul Tripathi.
Of course, in addition to these players, there are other well-known professionals. We wish the team to show real skill in the new season and win another championship title!
