Will Bengal lift the Ranji Trophy after 30 years or will Saurashtra be fourth-time lucky?
Irrespective of the outcome, the title clash of the 94th edition of the country’s premier tournament, beginning at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Monday, between two exceptional sides — which have thrived on different brands of team work — promises some exciting action during the festival of colours.
The availability of Wriddhiman Saha and Cheteshwar Pujara gives strength to Bengal and Saurashtra respectively.
Wicketkeeper Saha, who will replace Shreevats Goswami to play his first match of the season, will aid Bengal in batting too.
Gharami for Raman?
Bengal, which has experienced several top-order collapses, may take a calculated risk by fielding uncapped left-handed opener Sudip Gharami in place of a shaky Abhishek Raman.
Interestingly, Bengal had witnessed the debut of Sourav Ganguly in its last title win in 1989-90.
The experienced Sudip Chatterjee and Manoj Tiwary (playing his 100th Ranji match) and the dependable duo of Anustup Majumdar and Shahbaz Ahmed will look forward to shoulder the responsibility in batting.
Captain Abhimanyu Easwaran, going through a lean patch, will hope to get back his touch.
Superb pace trio
Bengal has a superb pace trio — Ishan Porel, Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep. Its spin all-rounders — Shahbaz and Arnab Nandi — give the side balance and variety.
Coach Arun Lal sounded philosophical ahead of the final.
“It’s more enjoyable to win it as a coach. It’s like guiding your son to achieve something. It has been a fabulous journey, we need to do what we have been doing,” said Arun Lal.
Home conditions
Saurashtra, boosted by Pujara, will savour the home conditions in its second consecutive summit clash. Experienced campaigners such as Pujara, Arpit Vasavada, Sheldon Jackson and Chirag Jani will hold the key in batting.
The pitch, topped with a thin layer of grass, may favour the batsmen in hot and dry weather. Time will tell how it helps the bowlers.
Captain and bowling trump-card Jaydev Unadkat, who has won several matches, wants to make his personal achievement of being the highest wicket-taker — 65 this season — more memorable. However, the next successful Saurashtra bowler, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, has aggregated 29 wickets.
“If we play to our strength, we can beat any team,” said Unadkat.
Saurashtra has reached four finals in seven years. It will try to bring the Ranji Trophy, named in the honour of Ranjitsinhji of Jamnagar, to its spiritual home.
The teams (from):
Saurashtra: Jaydev Unadkat (Capt.), Cheteshwar Pujara, Sheldon Jackson, Kamlesh Makwana, Arpit Vasavada, Chirag Jani, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Harvik Desai, Snell Patel (wk), Kishan Parmar, Avi Barot (wk), Prerak Mankad, Samarth Vyas, Vishwaraj Jadeja, Kushang Patel, Chetan Sakariya and Parth Bhut.
Bengal: Abhimanyu Easwaran (Capt.), Manoj Tiwary, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Anustup Majumdar, Shreevats Goswami (wk), Sudip Chatterjee, Abhishek Raman, Arnab Nandi, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ishan Porel, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Shreyan Chakraborty, Nilkantha Das, Agniv Pan (wk) and Sudip Gharami.
Match officials: Manu Nayyar (match referee); C. Shamshuddin and K.N. Ananthapadmanabhan (on-field umpires); S. Ravi (TV umpire).
Match starts at 9.30 a.m.