The 66th Ranji Trophy final, commencing at the Wankhede stadium from April 19 is being contested by teams with varied records in the national competition. In the red corner, there is Mumbai, winners 33 times and making their 38th entry into the final. In the blue corner, there is Hyderabad, winners only twice and making only their fifth entry into the final. Also, in contests between the two, Hyderabad have always been at the receiving end.

Mumbai's triumphs have been well chronicled, including their world record of 15 wins in a row from 1958-59 to 1972-73. Predictably enough, Hyderabad's two victories are not as well remembered. The first was in 1937-38, in the fourth year of the competition, and the other triumph came in 1986-87. Besides, they made the title round in 1942-43 (losing to Baroda) and 1964-65 (losing to Bombay).

Incredibly, Hyderabad played just one game to win the trophy the first time. They received a walk over from Madras in the South Zone championship and in the semifinal they again got a walk over when Southern Punjab failed to turn up. Walkovers and conceding games were commonplace in the formative years of the competition. So Hyderabad suddenly found themselves playing Nawanager for the title. The final was held at an unlikely venue - Bombay.

On past record and present form, Nawanager were the favourites. Not only were they the holders, they also seemed to be the better balanced side. They had India players in SMH Colah, VM Mankad, Amar Singh, SN Banerjee and ND Marshall. In skipper AF Wensley they had a shrewd English professional who had led the team to triumph the previous season. And in Mubarak Ali, Amar Singh's bowling partner, they had an in form bowler. Moreover, unlike Hyderabad, they had been match hardened. They had played three matches, winning each by an innings. They had beaten Baroda by an innings and 275 runs, defeated Sind by an innings and 144 runs and overwhelmed even strong Bombay by an innings and 130 runs. Interestingly enough, they had also received a walk over in the semifinal from Bengal.

Nawanagar batting first were all out for 152 with medium pacers Ibrahim Khan (3 for 44) and Hyder Ali (4 for 55) being the main wicket takers. Marshall at No 8 top scored with 36. But Nawanagar then hit back dismissing Hyderabad for 113 runs. Skipper SM Hussain top scored with 36. Banerjee was the most successful bowler with four for 34. By scoring 270 in their second innings, Nawanager seemed to have settled the issue in their favour. Wensley (67), Mubarak Ali (61) and Amar Singh (57) bolstered the total. Again Hyder Ali (5 for 92) and Ibrahim Khan (3 for 65) were the chief wicket takers. A winning target of 310 was a difficult one, especially in the face of the varied Nawanagar attack. But Eddie Aibara played a superb innings. He received able support from SM Hussain (32) and Hyder Ali (46) in the middle order and with the help of last man Ibrahim Khan (6 not out) saw Hyderabad through in a pulsating finish by one wicket. Aibara remained unbeaten with 137. Mubarak Ali was the most successful bowler with three for 48.

Hyderabad's victorious campaign in 1986-87, in direct contract, was more arduous and hard earned. In the first place, they finished second to Karnataka in the South Zone championship, just edging out Tamil Nadu for a berth in the knock out stage. Then after playing five matches at the zonal level, they defeated Gujarat in the quarterfinal and Bihar in the penultimate round. By now Hyderabad's batting was really peaking and scores of 605 for seven declared (against Gujarat) and 783 for eight declared (their highest total ever, against Bihar) augured well for them. But their opponents in the final, Delhi were not exactly idle with scores of 545 for seven declared in the quarterfinal against Bengal and 711 for three declared in the semifinal against Karnataka. Moreover Delhi were the holders, were playing at home and almost always had the better of the exchanges between the two. Rising to the occasion however, Hyderabad defeated Delhi to win the Ranji Trophy after 49 years.

Not unexpectedly, considering the batting strength of the two finalists, it turned out to be a battle for the vital first innings lead. After losing five wickets for 110 runs, Abdul Azeem (114) and Arshad Ayub (174) added 180 runs for the sixth wicket. Then Ayub with the last two batsmen Shivlal Yadav (33) and Ramana Murthy (21) stretched the Hyderabad total to a challenging 457. Delhi, with KP Bhaskar and Mohinder Amarnath adding 185 runs for the fourth wicket, were well placed at 300 for three. But then Rajesh Yadav (5 for 114) and Shivlal Yadav (3 for 74) got among the wickets and amidst growing tension and excitement, Delhi, despite a courageous unbeaten 160 by Bhaskar were restricted to 433. The rest of the match was a formality though opening batsman Vijay Mohan Raj helped himself to an unbeaten 211 and Ayub followed his first innings hundred with 80 to be adjudged man of the match.

Predictably enough, Hyderabad's heroes were the batsmen. Vijay Mohan Raj scored 751 runs, Abdul Azeem 753, Arshad Ayub 621 and Khalid Abdul Qayyum 614. Skipper MV Narasimha Rao, with 377 runs and 28 wickets, put up a fine all round display while Venkatpathi Raju, Rajesh Yadav and Arshad Ayub chipped in with valuable wickets. Hyderabad's victory was all the more creditable for Md Azharuddin did not play a single match, as he was away on national duty while Shivlal Yadav, for much the same reason, could play only two games. Azhar and Raju survive from that victorious squad and naturally that will be an added incentive as they prepare to take on Mumbai.

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