Ultimately, it was not just Bengal coach J Arun Lal but also Saurashtra stalwart Cheteshwar Pujara, who admitted that batting on the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) wicket during the Ranji Trophy final was a tough task. "This was probably one of my slowest innings [66 of 237 balls] in the domestic circuit. Usually, I don't think about my strike rate but this was a tough pitch. The ball was not coming on to the bat. I needed to put my head down and play a crucial knock. Ultimately, we needed a good total on the board," the India Test star said after his team won the Ranji Trophy title via a first innings lead.

Arun Lal, meanwhile, stressed on the significance of winning away. "I don't generally agree with the neutral venue concept. Like [former Australia skipper] Steve Waugh once said to his team, 'if you are the best, prove it by beating India in India, not here [in Australia].' I wanted my boys to do the same, beat Mumbai, Delhi or even Saurashtra in their own den. That's the challenge.