New Delhi [India], February 19 (ANI): After Jammu and Kashmir registered their historic victory over Bengal in the semi-final to enter their first-ever Ranji Trophy final, J-K’s skipper Paras Dogra hailed the combined efforts of his teammates on achieving this feat.
“The boys didn’t let us go at all. Their shoulders were never down. They had a 26-run lead, but the players were not upset. They knew we could come back in the game at any time. So, to win or to become successful, I think, it’s very important to have an attitude of not giving up,” said the veteran batter in a video posted by BCCI Domestic on Instagram.
The 41-year-old Dogra joined an elite list during the match by becoming only the second player, after Wasim Jaffer, to score 10,000 runs in Ranji Trophy history.
J-K defeated Bengal by six wickets to enter the final, where they will clash with Karnataka for the title clash at the KSCA Hubballi Cricket Stadium, commencing on February 24.
“This team is special because there are 14-15 good players in this team. And they have a game sense. I believe they are hungry to play well. So when a group gets together like this, where there are 14-15 players who want to win and perform, I think everyone has a good skill level,” said Dogra.
Seamer Yudhvir Singh Charak, who picked up three wickets in the match, said, “I can’t tell you, because we’ve been waiting for this for 4-5 years. And today, we’ve finally achieved this. I mean, I can’t tell you how emotional I am about this.”
Pacer Sunil Kumar, who took seven wickets for Jammu and Kashmir in the historic win, also shared the same emotions and said, “Right now, we’re not able to sink in the feeling of what we’ve achieved. I think it will take a couple of days to settle down about what we’ve achieved.
Abdul Samad, who has been an important part of this Jammu and Kashmir squad for the past few years, shared how everyone felt after losing the quarter-final match by just one run.
“It takes a lot to reach the finals. We’ve been working for many years. Last year, we were left with just one run in the quarter-finals. So everyone was sad about that last year. Everyone was desperate about how we lost that match. We only had one run in the quarter-finals. So I think we’re getting our payback this year. The season is going well. And hopefully, it will be good in the finals too,” said Samad.
Speaking on the mindset of players in the team, Samad said it’s about winning. “At this time, everyone’s mindset is nothing but winning. There’s nothing but winning. So, when we went to them for the first inning lead, all the boys were confident that it’s still 2.5 days to go,” said Samad,” said Samad.
Now, Jammu and Kashmir will eye their maiden Ranji Trophy title when they take on Karnataka on February 24 in Hubballi. (ANI)
