Saurashtra finally accomplish the mission

Western India, the erstwhile team from Saurashtra, won the Ranji Trophy way back in 1943-44, beating Bengal. It was just a happy coincidence that Saurashtra lifted the National championship bettering Bengal again on Friday.

Saurashtra’s cricketing legacy has been as rich as any other part in India. K S Ranjitsinhaji, after whom the Ranji Trophy has been named, belonged Jamnagar while nephew K S Duleepsinhaji, (Duleep Trophy has been named in his honour) came from Nawanagar, both part of the Saurashtra region. Besides these two stalwarts, Saurashtra has also produced internationals of repute like Vinoo Mankad, Salim Durani and Karsan Ghavri, the current coach.

In tune with this tradition, the likes of Jaydev Unadkat, Ravindra Jadeja and Cheteshwar Pujara have kept that oil burning but a Ranji title eluded them despite making four final appearances over 75 years. In fact, their first final was in 2012-13 season when they lost to Mumbai.

The long wait, however, finally ended for Saurashtra cricket on Friday when they took the all-important first innings lead on the final morning of the match in Rajkot.

Even as the newest Ranji Trophy champions bask in their well-earned glory, they will know the seeds of success were sown six years ago. Sitanshu Kotak, the new coach, demanded one thing from the players back then: to die for the team.

For the longest of time, Saurashtra were a synonym for also-rans. It took a change in outlook from Kotak to instill changes in the system.

“Saurashtra have a small group of quality players. When I took over as coach in 2014, I wanted the young players to aim for playing for the country. For those above 30 years, I told them to play passionately for the State,” Kotak tells DH.

“I found out that there were some who played just to earn money and had no interest in contributing to the growth of the team. I made sure that they either performed or made way for the better ones,” he says.

Ahead of every season, Mumbai, Karnataka and Delhi were the usual suspects to last the distance. Saurashtra were among the low profile sides who went unnoticed for their inability to win crucial matches. Kotak had to dig deep into the issue to find an answer.

“We were poor travellers,” he points out. “We would fail on green-top pitches prepared by the home team. I ensured that our players practiced more on such kind of surfaces. This has helped us create good fast bowlers and batsmen who can handle pitches with more grass,” explains Kotak, who is currently the head coach of India ‘A’ and India U-19 along with Paras Mhambrey.

A refreshing process, consistency and a bunch of gutsy players combined to take Saurashtra to two finals (2015-16 & 2018-19) under Kotak. But the wait for the Ranji Trophy prolonged as they crumbled in the final hurdles.

Today, Kotak calls the achievement a great moment in Saurashtra cricket. “It’s a great feeling hard to describe,” he says.

For all their sustained good show, Saurashtra do not attract fans to the ground like Mumbai and Karnataka do. The two domestic giants are filled with national players or IPL stars.

Many names from the Saurashtra side will not a ring a bell to millennials. But Saurashtra have shown that to win a Ranji Trophy, big names aren’t necessary. One feature found in abundance in Saurashtra was team work.

Veterans Sheldon Jackson (809 runs), Chirag Jani (544) and Arpit Vasavada (763) might never make it to the Indian side but there was no dearth of commitment in them while donning the State colours. Their indomitable spirit compensated for the lack of flair.

“They might be low on skills compared to many big names but they did gel as a team and enjoy each other’s success to be a champion side,” points out Kotak.

The value of India internationals Jaydev Unadkat (67 wickets) and Cheteshwar Pujara (570 runs) in the side is immeasurable, feel their team-mates. “They are such inspirational figures,” Gharvi, who is now the coach, tells DH. “In every team meeting, Unadkat and Pujara would take turns to motivate the players. They always had something to tell the boys,” he says.

The title is sure to have a huge influence on Saurashtra cricket, feels Kotak. The 47-year-old believes the team will be able to produce more India cricketers to join the list of Mankad, Durani, Pujara, Jadeja and Unadkat.

“While the infrastructure in Rajkot is outstanding, it’s still in developing stage in many other centres. The win should inspire youngsters to repeat what these boys have done,” he says.

Pujara, their biggest star, celebrated the special moment in three words on social media: “United we stand.” That best describes Saurashtra’s journey.