Chasing 206 to win, Jaydev Unadkat's men were bowled out for 127 as Vidarbha won the summit clash by 78 runs to successfully defend the title
Sitanshu Kotak
Saurashtra gave everything in their pursuit to clinch a maiden Ranji Trophy title, but they were third time unlucky. Chasing 206 to win, Jaydev Unadkat's men were bowled out for 127 as Vidarbha won the summit clash by 78 runs to successfully defend the title.
"We should have won this match. The target was gettable although there was turn, and the pitch was difficult to bat on. Credit to Aditya Sarwate for the way he bowled," Saurashtra's coach Sitanshu Kotak told mid-day from Nagpur yesterday.
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A fighting show in the final would be heartening for Saurashtra as they suffered innings defeats in their last two Ranji final clashes [2012-13 and 2015-16 - both against Mumbai].
"The players are obviously very disappointed. However, this is not the end of the road for us. We will try again next year and ensure we end up on the winning side. We are positive that we will fight it out again. To play three national finals [two Ranji and one Vijay Hazare Trophy] in the last four years is incredible. It shows that Saurashtra's progress is on the right track," said Kotak.
He pointed to the toss being one of the crucial factors for their loss. However, he did not feel Cheteshwar Pujara's early dismissals affected the other batsmen. "We wouldn't have qualified if that was the case. It was just that he [Pujara] wasn't available for us in the group games.
"Losing the toss made a huge difference. Another factor was allowing Vidarbha to score 312 in the first innings despite having them at 139-6 at one stage. That cost us a lot," Kotak said.
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