Pujara, Umesh duel adds spice to Ranji Trophy final
Saurashtra rely on the in-form batsman to tackle defending champions Vidarbha’s pace challenge
Teammates a month back, they are now at each other’s throat. This is what a switch from international cricket to domestic cricket or vice versa can do. Umesh Yadav and Cheteshwar Pujara were ironing out chinks in each other’s game at nets in Australia until January. However, when hosts Vidarbha take on Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy final from Sunday, Umesh Yadav’s primary objective would be to get rid of Cheteshwar Pujara as early as possible and Pujara’s concern would be how to wear out Umesh.
“It is always difficult against a batsman like him. You have to be wary of straying on to his pads. You do that and he can work it to the boundary,” says Umesh of Pujara while elaborating on the plan. “Our idea will be to keep things tight for as long as possible from one end. We’d like to keep a line at about fourth or fifth stump outside the off-stump and then hope he plays it. We can’t bowl at the stumps too much for the risk of straying onto his pads. He is very good at that.”
Just how much Pujara’s wicket means to defending champions Vidarbha can be gauged from the fact that Wasim Jaffer feels a batsman of his level and in his elements can be removed either by a brilliant delivery or by a stroke of luck. Saurashtra have qualified for the Ranji Trophy final for the third time in seven seasons. They lost both times to Mumbai, in 2012-13 and 2015-16. Vidarbha are the defending champions and this is their second final appearance. That neither Umesh nor Pujara are in India’s ODI set-up has spiced up this final as a duel between them.
Back in 2015-16, when the two sides had faced off in a quarter-final, it was the current Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Unadkat’s fivewicket haul that had pinned Vidarbha on the mat. A corre2015) sponding effort was needed from Umesh for Vidarbha and he delivered, getting rid of Pujara, but only after he’d seen off the threat with a gritty 40-odd to allowing the rest to make merry.
Vidarbha captain Faiz Fazal is wary of his getting overawed by the presence of Pujara. “This is something we don’t want to fall prey to. We have planned for the opposition as a whole,” said Fazal. After juggling with the idea of neutral venues, especially for the knockouts, the BCCI has dumped it this year, giving Vidarbha a distinct advantage in the final. They know the wicket well which Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Unadkat feels is going to be on the slower side. Vidarbha also finished top in the league phase.
It’ll also be a final that could see Wasim Jaffer add another Ranji title to his kitty. With over 1000 runs already this season, Vidarbha would hope he can extend the tally.