Ranji Trophy final: Bengal target chink in Cheteswhar Pujara’s armour

RANJI TROPHY FINAL: Saurashtra, chasing their first win, have home advantage, but face rivals determined to end a 30-year title drought

On the outskirts of Rajkot, at the Saurashtra Cricket Association’s international cricket stadium, Saurashtra and Bengal are locked in training for the Ranji Trophy final starting on Monday. Scheduled over five week days, and clashing with the Holi week, players know they could end up playing in front of empty stands, or school kids brought in for the experience. But it’s not dominating the thoughts within the team led by Jaydev Unadkat or Abhimanyu Easwaran as they face-off hoping the match can swing their fortunes.

Kolkata: Bengal cricketers pose for group photo. (PTI)

“A win in the Ranji final can take players to the next level—the tag of being Ranji champions. We already have bowlers who should be in national contention,” says Bengal batsman Manoj Tiwary ahead of his 100th Ranji match. Having faced defeats in the final twice, 2005-06 against Uttar Pradesh and 2006-07 against Mumbai, the 34-year-old is keen to make amends. “Against UP, we lost a very close match. In Mumbai, we were so close and had got them under some pressure. I played a loose shot and got out to Rohit Sharma at point. In this match, there will be value on my wicket. I will try and get a big innings.”

At the other end of the training ground, Saurashtra, the most consistent Ranji outfit, are at the nets. Saurashtra are in their fourth final since 2012-13, searching for their first win.

The centre of attention, Cheteshwar Pujara, has driven to the ground. Some stretching and jogging later, he pads up to face the side-arm—knee bent, all concentration. This is familiar territory for Pujara, after failing the New Zealand examination. After 20 minutes of brushing up the forward defence, he is ready to face the season’s top wicket-taker and Saurashtra skipper, Jaydev Unadkat (65 wickets), in the adjoining nets.

The left-arm paceman, four scalps short of becoming the highest wicket-taker in a Ranji season, steams in. He beats the outside edge of Pujara’s bat. The India Test No. 3, looking to polish his game, takes on the side-arm again, and asks for the ball to shape in. (In New Zealand, he was twice bowled, shouldering arms at Basin Reserve and beaten by a Trent Boult in-swinger in Hamilton).

He is back facing Unadkat, and this time the ball catches the outside edge. Pujara closes the session facing Dharmendra Jadeja’s left-arm-spin. He cools down and gives fielding practice to team-mates.

“Bengal is a good team. Any team that has made the final would have made it thus far by doing well in the league phase and knock-outs. But we have the home advantage,” he said.

In the Bengal nets, bowling coach Ranadeb Bose is asking for more local fast bowlers. The pace trio of Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar (30 each) and Ishan Porel (22) has 82 wickets this season. Bose wants them all to go full tilt, but not risk bowling long stints. Bengal have done their homework. Aware of the Unadkat threat, they have carried two left-arm pacers to bowl in the nets.

The last time Bengal won the trophy was in 1989-1990, when Sourav Ganguly made his first-class debut. Head coach Arun Lal was a batting mainstay then. ‘Lalji’ has played mentor, helping the team reach this far. “There are bigger players than you who get to play for India but don’t get to play a Ranji final. This is bigger than a Test. So, forget about the result, enjoy these five days,” he has advised his team.

Bengal wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha, 35, the other Test player in the final, echoed Lal’s thoughts. “I feel lucky to play a Ranji final. Not everyone gets to play one. Manoj has played in two, I have never played in one. But we are not treating this like a final, it’s just another match.”

Both teams rallied from difficult positions in the semi-finals. Anustup Majumdar struck 149 after Bengal were 67/6 against Karnataka. Saurashtra were reeling at 15/5 against Gujarat before Arpit Vasavada’s 139 and Chirag Jani’s 51 bailed them out. “When Saurashtra were 15/5, in the Indian dressing room (in New Zealand) team-mates would tell me I won’t need to play in the final,” Pujara said. “I would tell them we have the batsmen to come out of it. Fortunately, we managed to do it.”

Although the buzz of a final is missing, there would be needle. Asked about the Pujara factor, Tiwary said: “He is a big player, but we have successfully bowled to him with the ball coming in. So, we will focus on that. Doesn’t matter if he says he is not bothered, that is what we will focus on. Let’s see how it turns out.

“Pujara against our bowlers is what I am looking forward to watching.” With his experience of 16 first-class seasons, Tiwary is sure to be in Pujara’s ear.