Rohit Sharma congratulates Dhawal Kulkarni, labelled him as “Mumbai cha Yodha”

Mumbai finally ended their 8-year wait for the Ranji Trophy title. Kulkarni bowled an inward angling delivery which bamboozled Umesh Yadav`s leg stump.

India skipper Rohit Sharma hailed Mumbai`s Dhawal Kulkarni and labelled him “Mumbai ka Yoddha” after his first-class career ended on a fairytale note in the Ranji Trophy final at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.

Mumbai clinches 42nd Ranji Trophy title after 8-long-years

After Kulkarni`s final goodbyes to domestic career, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma took to Instagram to congratulate the former pacer. He hailed Kulkarni for his remarkable career and labelled him as “Mumbai cha Yodha” which meant Mumbai`s warrior. With this, he also wrote, “Well done on a fantastic career”.

The pacer had a decent Ranji Trophy final as he claimed three wickets in the first essay by conceding just 15 runs in his 11-over spell. In the second innings, Kulkarni claimed the final wicket guiding the side to lift the title for the 42nd time.

In the second innings, the 35-year-old leaked runs but eventually bagged a wicket with Umesh losing his wicket to the experienced pacer.

After the game, Kulkarni opened up about the gesture of the Mumbai skipper Ajinkya Rahane to hand him the ball and let him take the final wicket instead of using Tushar Deshpande to get the job done.

“It`s a cricketer`s dream to start and finish on a high. This is my 6th final, 5th time we`ve won and this will be dear for me. It was an excellent gesture, I didn`t expect (that Rahane would give him the ball to finish the game), but hats off for Tushar who gave the ball to me despite taking two wickets in an over. I`ve got experience as I`ve played with big stars, they`ve shared plenty of experience with me and I have passed the same to the younger lot,” Kulkarni said after the game.

On Day 5, Mumbai were left frustrated after Vidarbha skipper Akshay Wadkar and Harsh Dubey fought valiantly to ensure that they didn`t lose a single wicket in the first session while chasing 537.

However, after Wadkar`s (102) dismissal, Vidarbha lost their remaining wickets in a span of five overs following a clinical bowling spell from Mumbai.

Mumbai ended their eight-year wait for Ranji Trophy with a 169-run win.