Ahmedabad: Team Gujarat Skipper Parthiv Patel, who played the pivotal role in his side’s historic victory in Ranji Trophy final, today said that now the challenge before the team would be to maintain the performance and repeat many more such title wins.

Talking to newsmen here Pathiv, who was adjudged man of the match in the final owing to his superb batting performance, said that the win would certainly motivate the youths of the state to play for Gujarat team.

‘This is a superb win and a historic one but now the expectations will also go up and the main challenge will be to maintain our position. Now that we have become champion for the first time, the challenge will be to repeat this performance many more times,’ he said.

To a query he said that playing on the red soil pitch of Indore in the final was not a big problem as he had seen such pitches and played on such wickets in Valsad and other places in the state. He also said that the pitch played well till the final day.

Parthiv also lauded the support staff of the team for its contribution in the fitness and other aspects of the players and the team.

To a query regarding neutral venue matches, he said that it has its own pro and cons.

On being asked as to when he thought that his team could make history (win) in the final, Parthiv said that after getting the first innings lead of 100 runs, he thought it was possible. ‘I played attacking cricket in the final,’ Parthiv who scored 90 and 143 in the two innings said.

DeshGujarat