<p>Most inspirational tales, sports and life in general, have been built on the foundation of failure. Failures teach more lessons than success.</p>.<p>“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed,” remarked Michael Jordan, widely considered the greatest basketball player ever. To simply put, success is achieved and greatness is defined on how well one learns from mistakes.</p>.<p>Closer home, Saurashtra have done something similar to rise to the pinnacle of domestic cricket. The reigning Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy champions are currently enjoying the glorious view from the summit but their ascension was filled with plenty of heart-breaks. While they did win their maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy way back in 2007-08 before regaining it last year, their dream of holding the Ranji Trophy, perhaps the most gruelling team competition in the country, was the one that remained painfully elusive for a long time. They lost the first three finals (2012-13, 2015-16 and 2018-19) they competed in before finally cracking the puzzle against Bengal in 2019-20 and then outdoing the same opponents last Sunday at the Eden Gardens in comprehensive fashion. </p>.<p>“Those three final defeats really stung us,” coach Niraj Odedra told <em>DH</em> from Buenos Aires where he’s now coaching and consulting Bermuda — his second job during India off-season — in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier. “Failure always teaches you great lessons and how well one responds from failures defines them. We figured that to cross that final hurdle we need two Fs and a S! It’s fielding, fitness and self-belief. We kept working on it without losing heart and reaped the rewards. Kudos to the players for not giving up and constantly working towards the goal. Without their heart and courage, this wouldn’t have been possible.”</p>.<p>The three aspects of Odedra, a former Saurashtra off-spinner who joined the team’s support staff as bowling and fielding coach first in 2015 before taking over as the main man in April 2020, were evident during the season several times. Their fielding and fitness have been consistently good with several batters possessing the ability to play long innings. Spinners were skilful and bowled marathon and controlled spells while pacers had enough gas to run in hard even late in the day. But the stand-out feature about their turnaround has been the immense self-belief. It’s what champion sides are made of. </p>.<p>Take the quarterfinal and semifinal this season where they appeared in a spot of bother but found heroes who changed the complexion of the game completely. In the quarterfinal against Punjab, they were in deep trouble after being reduced to 208/9 but a cracking unbeaten 111 from No. 9 Parth Bhut and a 95-run partnership for the final wicket with Yuvrajsinh Dodiya saw them post 303 all out. Despite those heroics, they were staring down the barrel when Punjab openers Prabhsimran Singh (126) and Neman Dhir (131) took them to the cleaners with a 212-run stand. Saurashtra bowlers, however, kept trying and limited Punjab’s lead to just 128 runs, which was still a lot nevertheless.</p>.<p>Then came the hardest part, enforcing a result against a team in control with just a day left. Punjab began the final morning on 52/2, chasing 252 for victory and only had to survive which would have gotten them home. But Saurashtra’s spinners, Bhut (5/89), Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (3/56) and Dodiya (2/35) combined to bamboozle Punjab, powering their side to an incredible come-from-behind 71-run win. Saurashtra, just a few years ago, may have wilted but not this side that refuses to give up, no matter how dire the situation is.</p>.<p>In the semifinal against Karnataka which they bossed throughout, they looked like bungling it up on the final afternoon when chasing 115 for victory they collapsed to 5/42 with experienced off-spinner K Gowtham breathing fire. At that stage, Gowtham looked like picking up a wicket with nearly every ball he bowled. The seasoned duo of Arpit Vasavada, who scored 202 in the first innings, and Chetan Sakariya, however, effortlessly calmed the storm with the former, captaining the side in place of Jaydev Unadkat who was out on national duty, carrying them home easily eventually. </p>.<p>A lot of this immense self-belief comes from the confidence the team management gives to the players. Unlike some teams that chop and change when things go bad or inject youngsters periodically to ensure there’s fair balance between youth and experience, Saurashtra keeps its faith on tried and tested players to get the job done. From the XI that took the field in the final against Bengal, five have played over 50 first-class matches with the trio of Jay Gohill (6), Vishvaraj Jadeja (15) and Parth Bhut (10) being the relative newcomers. Factor this, Saurashtra have handed debuts to only two players — Gohill and Dodiya — in the last four years! This stability and reliance on seasoned hands is what has led to Saurashtra’s stupendous run that made their skipper Jaydev Unadkat call them the best team of the decade right after the final triumph.</p>.<p>The seniors have returned the compliments for the faith imposed on them by delivering consistently. On the batting front, Vasavada, adjudged player of the series, scored 907 runs at a superb average of 75.58, Harvik Desai made 614 runs, Jackson 588 and Chirag Jani 569. Dharmendrasinh led the bowling charts with 43 scalps, Unadkat took 26 and Sakariya 27. Youngsters like Gohill (337 runs) and Dodiya (30 wickets) have nicely flourished under the wings of veterans. </p>.<p>“Success can only be achieved through stability and systematic approach,” says Odedra. It is something which Vasavada too echoed following the semifinal win.</p>.<p>“Saurashtra is a team that has established players, we don’t change our team frequently. All the players feel very settled in the team and that leads to wonderful team culture. The mindset is to win the game. Also, most of us put team above individual milestones. All the players have the ability to handle pressure situations very well. Punjab had a lead of 128 runs in the quarterfinal against us. If I recall the dressing room atmosphere, everyone was confident of making a comeback in the quarterfinal.”</p>.<p>So what happens once the veterans age, is there a succession plan in place to ensure success is maintained? “Yes of course,” says Suarashtra Cricket Association president Jaydev Shah, the son of former BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah and who played 120 first-class games and captained the team before Unadkat. “We are the men’s U-25 one-day champions and reached the knockout rounds of Col CK Nayudu Trophy and Cooch Behar Trophy. Given the good infrastructure we have, there is a lot of talent. Whoever has been blooded into the senior side has delivered. That’s because they play a lot of age-group cricket and we ensure they are close to the finished product when they break into the senior side.”</p>.<p>Odedra, who will be back in time to take charge once the domestic season resumes later in the year, said his next big goal is to win the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.</p>.<p>“For a long time, Saurashtra were dubbed good enough only for Ranji. Many felt we don’t have the personnel dynamic enough to excel in limited-overs. We changed that perspective by winning the Vijay Hazare. Now, it’s time to crack the T20 code. And obviously, win the Irani Cup.”</p>
<p>Most inspirational tales, sports and life in general, have been built on the foundation of failure. Failures teach more lessons than success.</p>.<p>“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed,” remarked Michael Jordan, widely considered the greatest basketball player ever. To simply put, success is achieved and greatness is defined on how well one learns from mistakes.</p>.<p>Closer home, Saurashtra have done something similar to rise to the pinnacle of domestic cricket. The reigning Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy champions are currently enjoying the glorious view from the summit but their ascension was filled with plenty of heart-breaks. While they did win their maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy way back in 2007-08 before regaining it last year, their dream of holding the Ranji Trophy, perhaps the most gruelling team competition in the country, was the one that remained painfully elusive for a long time. They lost the first three finals (2012-13, 2015-16 and 2018-19) they competed in before finally cracking the puzzle against Bengal in 2019-20 and then outdoing the same opponents last Sunday at the Eden Gardens in comprehensive fashion. </p>.<p>“Those three final defeats really stung us,” coach Niraj Odedra told <em>DH</em> from Buenos Aires where he’s now coaching and consulting Bermuda — his second job during India off-season — in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier. “Failure always teaches you great lessons and how well one responds from failures defines them. We figured that to cross that final hurdle we need two Fs and a S! It’s fielding, fitness and self-belief. We kept working on it without losing heart and reaped the rewards. Kudos to the players for not giving up and constantly working towards the goal. Without their heart and courage, this wouldn’t have been possible.”</p>.<p>The three aspects of Odedra, a former Saurashtra off-spinner who joined the team’s support staff as bowling and fielding coach first in 2015 before taking over as the main man in April 2020, were evident during the season several times. Their fielding and fitness have been consistently good with several batters possessing the ability to play long innings. Spinners were skilful and bowled marathon and controlled spells while pacers had enough gas to run in hard even late in the day. But the stand-out feature about their turnaround has been the immense self-belief. It’s what champion sides are made of. </p>.<p>Take the quarterfinal and semifinal this season where they appeared in a spot of bother but found heroes who changed the complexion of the game completely. In the quarterfinal against Punjab, they were in deep trouble after being reduced to 208/9 but a cracking unbeaten 111 from No. 9 Parth Bhut and a 95-run partnership for the final wicket with Yuvrajsinh Dodiya saw them post 303 all out. Despite those heroics, they were staring down the barrel when Punjab openers Prabhsimran Singh (126) and Neman Dhir (131) took them to the cleaners with a 212-run stand. Saurashtra bowlers, however, kept trying and limited Punjab’s lead to just 128 runs, which was still a lot nevertheless.</p>.<p>Then came the hardest part, enforcing a result against a team in control with just a day left. Punjab began the final morning on 52/2, chasing 252 for victory and only had to survive which would have gotten them home. But Saurashtra’s spinners, Bhut (5/89), Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (3/56) and Dodiya (2/35) combined to bamboozle Punjab, powering their side to an incredible come-from-behind 71-run win. Saurashtra, just a few years ago, may have wilted but not this side that refuses to give up, no matter how dire the situation is.</p>.<p>In the semifinal against Karnataka which they bossed throughout, they looked like bungling it up on the final afternoon when chasing 115 for victory they collapsed to 5/42 with experienced off-spinner K Gowtham breathing fire. At that stage, Gowtham looked like picking up a wicket with nearly every ball he bowled. The seasoned duo of Arpit Vasavada, who scored 202 in the first innings, and Chetan Sakariya, however, effortlessly calmed the storm with the former, captaining the side in place of Jaydev Unadkat who was out on national duty, carrying them home easily eventually. </p>.<p>A lot of this immense self-belief comes from the confidence the team management gives to the players. Unlike some teams that chop and change when things go bad or inject youngsters periodically to ensure there’s fair balance between youth and experience, Saurashtra keeps its faith on tried and tested players to get the job done. From the XI that took the field in the final against Bengal, five have played over 50 first-class matches with the trio of Jay Gohill (6), Vishvaraj Jadeja (15) and Parth Bhut (10) being the relative newcomers. Factor this, Saurashtra have handed debuts to only two players — Gohill and Dodiya — in the last four years! This stability and reliance on seasoned hands is what has led to Saurashtra’s stupendous run that made their skipper Jaydev Unadkat call them the best team of the decade right after the final triumph.</p>.<p>The seniors have returned the compliments for the faith imposed on them by delivering consistently. On the batting front, Vasavada, adjudged player of the series, scored 907 runs at a superb average of 75.58, Harvik Desai made 614 runs, Jackson 588 and Chirag Jani 569. Dharmendrasinh led the bowling charts with 43 scalps, Unadkat took 26 and Sakariya 27. Youngsters like Gohill (337 runs) and Dodiya (30 wickets) have nicely flourished under the wings of veterans. </p>.<p>“Success can only be achieved through stability and systematic approach,” says Odedra. It is something which Vasavada too echoed following the semifinal win.</p>.<p>“Saurashtra is a team that has established players, we don’t change our team frequently. All the players feel very settled in the team and that leads to wonderful team culture. The mindset is to win the game. Also, most of us put team above individual milestones. All the players have the ability to handle pressure situations very well. Punjab had a lead of 128 runs in the quarterfinal against us. If I recall the dressing room atmosphere, everyone was confident of making a comeback in the quarterfinal.”</p>.<p>So what happens once the veterans age, is there a succession plan in place to ensure success is maintained? “Yes of course,” says Suarashtra Cricket Association president Jaydev Shah, the son of former BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah and who played 120 first-class games and captained the team before Unadkat. “We are the men’s U-25 one-day champions and reached the knockout rounds of Col CK Nayudu Trophy and Cooch Behar Trophy. Given the good infrastructure we have, there is a lot of talent. Whoever has been blooded into the senior side has delivered. That’s because they play a lot of age-group cricket and we ensure they are close to the finished product when they break into the senior side.”</p>.<p>Odedra, who will be back in time to take charge once the domestic season resumes later in the year, said his next big goal is to win the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.</p>.<p>“For a long time, Saurashtra were dubbed good enough only for Ranji. Many felt we don’t have the personnel dynamic enough to excel in limited-overs. We changed that perspective by winning the Vijay Hazare. Now, it’s time to crack the T20 code. And obviously, win the Irani Cup.”</p>
