Ranji Trophy 2022 | 'They showed the character' - Skipper Shaw lauds Mumbai's stars

Despite the six-wicket loss against Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy 2022 final, Mumbai's captain Prithvi Shaw hailed his teammates for showing 'character'.

Shaw, who was at the helm throughout the season, praised Madhya Pradesh's players for their outstanding effort. Ultimately, it proved to be an easy win for the Chandrakant Pandit-coached side, which emerged as the first-time Ranji winner, beating Mumbai by six wickets.

Shaw applauded the fairly young Mumbai side for achieving what they did in the recently-concluded season. 

He said: "It's just unbelievable. You know, a lot of youngsters in our team, a lot of new guys came in, but they showed the character, and you know what the Mumbai cricket is all about. Every day can't be your day. And I think the MP guys really batted well and played well. And I think we just have to learn from this and go forward."

The 22-year-old, who scored in the 40s in each innings of the final at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, asserted that he could have stretched his knocks a bit further.

"I think if you ask me personally, I could have batted for a longer period of time. But like I said, like I used to say, always, cricket is somewhere it can't just go upside. It's going to be the graph, ups and downs. So maybe not this year. Maybe I'll come back stronger next time and, to be honest, my whole focus was for the boys, for the team. What could I do better? But for sure, next year," the Mumbaikar added.

The opener further commented on young talents of Mumbai cricket, namely Sarfaraz Khan, Suved Parkar, Armaan Jaffer and Shams Mulani. 

"I think if you see the scorecard, you can see what kind of talent these guys have. Sarfaraz, Armaan, Suved Parker, Shams Mulani and everyone. I think they have done an excellent job over here, and they are the future for Mumbai cricket. So really looking forward to playing with them, and it was really a proud moment for me, and yeah, I enjoyed with the guys."

In the end, he reflected upon his time with the Mumbai coach Amol Muzumdar and hoped that the latter would be pleased with their performance.

"He is a friendly one, yeah, sometimes. I really enjoyed playing under Amol sir. He is really calm and at the same time, obviously, you have to be tough when you have youngsters. But we all really enjoy his company and the way he has put in his hard work throughout the series. The Mushtaq Ali, Vijay Hazare and now Ranji Trophy. He has really worked hard for Mumbai cricket and not really happy, to be honest, because we didn't get the cup. But I hope he's happy with the performances and with the hardwork. What we have put in," Shaw concluded.