Bist got the promotion and the landmark, Kanitkar the title and accolades. And by the end of a pointless day of cricket at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai against Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan did what their opposition never managed in 77 years of the competition — defend a Ranji Trophy title.

In fact, Rajasthan became only the fifth team in this country to win back-to-back trophies, the ultimate stamp of dominance. They marked their names alongside the big league giants of the past — Mumbai, Delhi, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Personal battles

Even on the Chepauk field, the records just didn’t stop falling by the way side. As Rajasthan’s Vineet Saxena, the man who guided Rajasthan to a surreal and title-clinching first innings lead of 326, watched fellow opener Aakash Chopra walk back to the pavilion on 18 in the second innings, in walked Bist at No.3. The match had now suddenly turned into a healthy battle of who this season’s highest run-getter would be.

Before this innings, Saxena had 884 runs and Bist 942. The former had already displaced Abhinav Mukund for the second spot with his first-innings marathon of 257. Now it was down to the battle between him and the man who was looking to become Rajasthan’s first batsman to surpass the four-digit mark in a Ranji season. Unfortunately, though, the contest didn’t live up to its hype, thanks to R Prasanna.

Five out of five

Prasanna, who had not been one of the eight bowlers that TN used in the first innings, cut through Saxena’s defence on 13. But despite his cheap dismissal, Saxena became one of the only players to bat on all five days in a Ranji Trophy final. Now crowned the highest scorer of the season, Bist went on to topple the other landmark, eight runs after reaching his second half-century of the game. It was an understandable celebration, considering every other player to notch a 1000-run season has gone on to represent India at the highest level.

The run ended on 1034 runs when Prasanna bagged his second wicket as Bist was dismissed while attempting an ugly swipe, a complete contrast to the rest of his knock of 92. The remaining innings was one that deserved to be part of a century, packed with stylish drives and backfoot punches.

Even after Bist’s wicket, Rajasthan carried on batting pointlessly, as part-timer Murali Vijay bowled, Dinesh Karthik fielded at covers and Laxmipathy Balaji played non-bowling captain. The ridiculousness carried on even after Rajasthan’s declaration on 204/4, as Yo Mahesh, opening the batting for TN, prepared to face new ball bowler Gajendra Singh — a left-arm spinner.

Gajendra struck first ball and removed Mukund for one soon after. But when TN reached 8/2 in 13 overs, the clock struck quarter past three and the Rajasthan camp celebrated in a tone fitting of consecutive champions.