Ranji Trophy Final: Sarwate completes 10-wicket haul to take holders Vidarbha to easy win against Saurashtra
Vidarbha ended Saurashtra’s resistance within two hours on the final day to win by 78 runs and become only the sixth team to win back-to-back Ranji Trophy titles.
Winners take all, losers nothing except bitter memories. Nothing would have summed this up better than the mood in either camp after Vidarbha ended Saurashtra’s resistance within two hours on the final day to win by 78 runs and become only the sixth team to win back-to-back Ranji Trophy titles in the national championship’s 85-year history.
While the victorious home team hogged the limelight with the home crowd chanting ‘Vidarbha, Vidarbha’, Saurashtra sat morose on chairs waiting for the customary picture with the runners-up trophy -- their third in seven seasons.
With camerapersons busy capturing the more exciting moments, the wait for Cheteshwar Pujara & Co took forever. Eventually, Saurashtra’s photo session was shelved and they left.
Everyone else had been intoxicated by victory. The outcome of a match that see-sawed till the end must be a bit hard to digest for Saurashtra players though Unadkat put up a brave face.
“Any loss is disappointing. But this isn’t more painful than the last two (2012-13 & 2015-16). I am happy with the way players put up a fight and believed throughout the game that they could win,” he said.
Resuming at 58/5 on Thursday with a deficit of 147 runs, Saurashtra needed a big partnership for the sixth or seventh wicket to have a chance on the turning pitch.
“The belief was there. We had won the last two games chasing. If there had been one good partnership from the guys playing (overnight batsmen Vishvaraj Jadeja and Kamlesh Makvana) or Prerak (Mankad) who came in next, we knew we could win as the tail-enders had scored runs in this game,” said Unadkat.
Vishvaraj Jadeja and Makvana showed grit to stay on, taking the team into 80s by seeing off the first 40-45 minutes, but left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate, Vidarbha’s trump card this season, didn’t let up.
Changing end from where he got his wickets on the fourth evening, Sarwate deceived Makvana when he seemed to have settled down with Vishvaraj Jadeja. Makvana, an off-spinner who bats well, played for the turn just like Cheteshwar Pujara on the fourth evening and left the ball only for his off-stump to be rattled by one that went on straight. Soon after, Mankad fell leg-before to offie Akshay Wakhare and the match looked over. Vishvaraj Jadeja tried to unshackle himself with a sweep, but fell leg before to Sarwate, handing the Vidarbha spinner his second five-wicket haul of the final.
“When we won last year, people said it was a fluke. However, we have proved it wasn’t. Two titles can’t (be down to luck),” said Vidarbha captain Faiz Fazal, who became the 11th skipper to win back-to-back Ranji titles. “The belief was always there.”
One thing that carried this side was the blend of youth and experience. The seniors led ably. Wasim Jaffer, at 41, scored 1,037 runs and with opener Fazal boosted the batting this season; Sarwate, 29, took 55 wickets (third highest for the season) and Akshay Wakhare (33) 34 scalps. But there were important contributions from youngsters like 20-year-old Mohit Kale’s twin knocks in the final that made the title possible.