Rahane architect of IndianOil’s title wins
Mumbai   18-Jan-2008
IndianOil were the most consistent and most deserving, so it was no wonder when they overpowered Bharat Sanchar Nigam by 32 runs to bag the Air India Cup, the symbol of supremacy in the All India Public Sector cricket tournament, hosted by Air India at Police Gymkhana ground, Marine lines, on Thursday. The winners got Rs 50,000, while their rivals had to settle for half that amount. The man responsible to bring them victory was stylist one-down batsman Ajinkya Rahane, whose power-packed century (126, 14x4 and 5x6s) saw IndianOil hitting up the tournament's highest score of 322 for the loss of seven wickets. Others to make substantial contributions were opener Cheteshwar Purjara, the Saurashtra and India A opener, who hit a quick-fire 52 and skipper Rohit Sharma, who seemed more inclined to take the aerial route - his 43 contained four sixes and two fours. Incidentally, Rohit emerged as the top scorer and was adjudged the Man of the Tournament. He was also the recipient of a Mumbai-Lon-don-Mumbai ticket offered by hosts Air India. The task before BSNL was really imposing for they needed to score over eight runs per over. Yet they did put up a spirited fight with Sanjay Bamal and Brijesh Tomar adding 93 runs for the fifth wicket. However, IndianOil medium pacer Rohan Raje, who has been having a terrific run with ball in this tournament, was again at his best. He captured six wickets for 65 runs off 7.5 overs. For former India captain and present chairman of the national Selection Committee, Dilip Vengsarkar, who was the guest of honour, gave away the prizes. The individual prizewinners were: Player of the tournament - Rohit Sharma (IndianOil). Man of the final - Ajinkya Rahane. Best Batsman - Cheteshwara Purjara. Bowler - Rohan Raje (IOQ. Best filelder- Anshul Kapoor (BSNL).