Ranji finally lands in Ranji’s land
RAJKOT: A little over an hour into the fifth day of the Ranji Trophy final, Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Undkat screamed with joy and looked up at the heavens. A length delivery angling back in had hit Bengal’s Ishan Porel in line with middle stump and the umpire raised his finger. Porel reviewed the decision, but even he must have known that Bengal were only delaying the inevitable by a few seconds.
Saurashtra had taken a 46-run first innings lead, and with it all but won their first ever Ranji Trophy. Unadkat’s side still had to come out to bat in the second innings. But it was merely a formality, just as securing the title was after the first of four wickets they had to claim on the final day fell—that of Anustup Majumdar on 63, lbw to Unadkat.
At that point, with Bengal on 361/7 and still 66 runs adrift from taking the lead, Unadkat couldn’t but help himself from looking hopeful. But when he bowled what was the final ball of the tournament, he had already declared Porel out before he even began to appeal. Once the umpire raised his finger, the entire Saurashtra team crowded their skipper, and once the DRS decision was complete, the celebrations began.
Back in the members stand— the only stand where there was a sprinkling of spectators thanks to the government’s measures of preventing the spread of coronavirus—the applause continued until the players walked back to the dressing room. Unadkat, however, continued to roar even once he reached the change room. He may have missed becoming the highest ever wicket-taker in a Ranji season by just one wicket, but the joy of leading his team to the title a year after falling at the final hurdle was unparalleled.
At the start of day five, however, the win wasn’t guaranteed for Unadkat’s side. The equation was a simple enough one even for Bengal: score 72 runs with the four wickets in hand to take the first innings lead, and the title. For the first 5.4 overs, the overnight batsmen in Majumdar and Arnab Nandi resisted Saurashtra’s
pacers, Unadkat and Chetan Sakariya.
Bengal was looking to the occupy the crease and tire the bowlers. Unadkat, with 65 wickets to show for his efforts in the season until then, was unable to break Bengal’s resistance for two full days. He had tried everything, from bowling over and round, bowling bouncers, reversing the ball, changing his pace and even changing his crease position.
“It shows how cricket is a great leveller,” Unadkat later said. “I got 65 wickets in 15 innings, more than four wickets per innings, and after that I was wicketless for 30 overs. I knew if I could get that one wicket, it would mean a lot more than the previous wickets.”
That breakthrough finally came in Unadkat’s 33rd over of the innings. Bengal’s rescue artist Majumdar missed the line of an in-coming ball and was out lbw. Luck hadn’t been Unadkat’s ally until then—a few strong lbw appeals denied due to the limitations of partial DRS. But this was to be his day. And then Saurashtra’s day.
In the final ball of the same wicket-taking over, new batsman Akash Deep played and missed a ball. And while he was preoccupied with the bowler’s appeal, he didn’t realise he was standing outside the batting crease. The wicketkeeper attempted to run him out, and missed. Then Unadkat attempted to run him out, and hit. In the space of three balls, victory was closer than ever.
Dharmendra Jadeja dismissed Mukesh Kumar—the review confirmed it was bat before pad— before Unadkat wrapped up the season. Thirty four overs of batting later, members of the Saurashtra team were posing with the trophy and autographed t-shirts and their families.
“This is not just my achievement, it’s my state’s achievement,” said Unadkat. “This team has been working hard. People who have played for Saurashtra in the past have been wanting this trophy to come home. We have had a glorious cricketing legacy to carry on as well.”
Three Saurashtra players Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara and Arpit Vasavada -- played the match despite being unwell. “It was very tough on me,” Pujara said. “I’m someone who likes to lead from the front, but here I had to bat lower down the order. It was frustrating for me on the first day.”
After the presser ended, Pujara went to pose for a picture with his wife, who was holding their two-year-old baby. He noticed his father, Arvind, an ex-Saurashtra player, standing a short distance away. So Pujara broke through the crowd and asked his father to join the celebrations. That picture summed up the fulfilled dreams of Saurashtra cricket.
Brief scores: Saurashtra 425 & 105/4 (Baron 39; Shahbaz 2/32) drew with Bengal 381 (Chatterjee 81, Saha 64, Majumdar 63; Jadeja 3/114). Saurashtra won on the basis of first innings lead