Cheteshwar Pujara To Play Ranji Trophy 2019-20 Final Against Bengal
Updated - 07 Mar 2020, 07:55 PM
Yet again Saurashtra had made things fall in place — to enter the final of the Ranji Trophy 2019-20. They are all set to get the major boost with Cheteshwar Pujara confirming his availability for the final against Bengal, who are boosted with the presence of the wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha.
The summit clash will be held at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot from Monday. The stadium would be hosting the Ranji Trophy final for the first time.
Pujara, who has played 77 tests, will turn up for the hosts after a forgettable tour of New Zealand where the Indian batsmen were found wanting in testing conditions.
Pujara made 100 runs in four innings in New Zealand with scores of 11 and 11 at Wellington and 54 and 24 at Christchurch.
The 17-member squad, led by star pacer Jaydev Unadkat, was announced by SCA on Saturday. After the win over Gujarat in the semi-final fixture, Unadkat had revealed that he was in touch with Pujara, who was in New Zealand.
Cheteshwar Pujara cares for the team: Jaydev Unadkat
Speaking of the same, Unadkat confirmed that Pujara will be part of the final XI.
However, he isn’t sure about the availability of Ravindra Jadeja. Despite that, Unadkat is confident of making things fall in place.
“We [Pujara and I] have been constantly in touch, he cares for the team as much as I do. Right now, he is in the flight back from New Zealand and I am sure he will be quite happy once he lands in Mumbai,” ESPNCricinfo quoted Unadkat as saying.
“Having Cheteshwar back will play on their [Bengal’s] mind as well. Whenever he is around, our batting unit plays differently, they have this confidence that there is someone of his calibre in our team. Plus, he does take some sort of pressure off me when there are situations like this,” he added.
Saurashtra Squad:
Jaydev Unadkat (c), 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, Parth Bhut.
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Jaydev Unadkat Ranji Trophy 2019-2020 Saurashtra