PANAJI
The 2013-14 Ranji Trophy season will go down in the history of Goan cricket as arguably its best performance till date. Goa, which otherwise has a poor record in Ranji Trophy, missed out on a quarter-final berth of the 2013–14 Ranji season to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) by the narrowest possible margin as J&K's quotient was just 0.001 better than Goa's.
It was so near yet so far for the Goan team. After all, this was the closest a Goan side had come of making it to the knock-out stage of Ranji Trophy ever since making its debut in 1985-86. Since then it has been a journey filled with more losses than wins. Had the Goan side qualified for the quarter-finals, it would have been a historic moment for Goan cricket.
Goa which was coached by former Sri Lankan international cricketer Nuwan Zoysa and captained by Ravikant Shukla, had a dream run during that season.
Placed in Group C along with Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Tripura, Goa won four out of their eight matches, i.e. against Tripura, Assam, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh., losing only against Jammu and Kashmir while their three games against Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Hyderabad ended in a draw.
Infact, Goa did not start its campaign on a good note, drawing two matches against Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra and losing to Jammu and Kashmir by 3 wickets in their first three games.
The turnaround happened in the fourth game against Tripura at Porvorim which Goa won by 49 runs. The victory gave Goa a much needed boost. Goa went on to defeat Assam by 10 wickets at Guwahati in its next game.
Goa’s sixth match was against the mighty Hyderabad at Porvorim. That match ended in a draw.
However, Goa did remarkably well in its remaining two games against Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. They defeated Kerala by 3 wickets and then followed up with 8 wicket win over Andhra in its last game.
After Goa's victory over Andhra, they were tied with Jammu and Kashmir on four wins from eight games. Jammu and Kashmir having already secured three points from the first-innings lead, needed to beat Tripura on the last day or ensure they kept their score in the second innings above Goa's quotient to ensure qualification.
Chasing 228, Jammu and Kashmir finished at 87 for 2, staying ahead of Goa's quotient. Jammu and Kashmir finished with a quotient of 1.006, over Goa's 1.005. They qualified for the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal by the thinnest of margins - their quotient was 0.001 better than Goa's - after drawing their game against Tripura at Agartala.
It was heartbreak for Goa, but a historic moment for Jammu & Kashmir who made it to the Ranji quarters for the first time ever.
Goa since then never came so close of making it to the knock-out stage of Ranji Trophy.
