Unadkat surpassed former India pacer Dodda Ganesh (62) to notch up most wickets by a pacer in a Ranji season (Photo credit: SCA) © Cricbuzz

Four Ranji Trophy finals in eight years. And finally, Saurashtra have their maiden title. It has been quite a wait for 'the most impressive team in recent years, and fittingly it's their skipper - Jaydev Unadkat - who pinned Bengal's number eleven, Ishan Porel, dead in front to spark a moment of madness under the scorching conditions of Rajkot on day five. Heading into the final day, the visitors had a sniff with four wickets intact, but a double-wicket maiden from Unadkat put paid to Bengal's hopes of clinching their first title in 30 years.

How crucial was the toss?

Don't be fooled by what the scorecard says. In all fairness, the toss had the least possible influence in determining the outcome of this game. Although Saurashtra took maximum advantage of winning the toss and batting first, it was their bowlers who toiled hard to force errors from the Bengal batters. Both teams batted in excess of 160 overs in their first innings and in the end, 'greater discipline and fewer errors' separated the two sides.

Must have been a flat wicket then?

It's tough to debate that, especially when a former legend, a keen observer of Indian cricket and the current Bengal head coach - Arun Lal - terms it 'very poor'. Such was the disappointment, he even suggested to 'send the curator 15 days prior to the game' and labelled the wicket as 'not good for cricket'. Those comments were made at the end of day one, but the fact remains, nothing changed over the course of the game. Only 24 wickets fell across 14 sessions.

Weren't Saurashtra on 206/5 at one stage?

Indeed. They weren't in the best of positions heading into day 2, but Arpit Vasavada - batting at four - played a brilliant hand to compose a gritty hundred alongside Cheteshwar Pujara, engineering a vital 142-run stand for the sixth wicket. The duo not only tested Bengal's bowlers, but was also successful in tiring the fielders out by stitching two back-to-back wicketless sessions on day 2.

Did fatigue play a part?

Not really. Both teams nearly fielded for over two days and if anything, only the bowlers can complain about the heat, which remained the only constant over the course of five days.

Were Bengal too cautious, then?

The Bengal batters had to cope with slow and low nature of the surface whilst negating the angles of left-arm pace duo of Jaydev Unadkat and Chetan Sakariya. To aggravate matters, Bengal had only one left-handed batsman in their top six which, partly, benefitted the home team given the number of left-arm bowling options at their disposal.

No 'Majumdar special' in the final?

After compiling scores of 157 and 149* in the two knockout games leading up to the Ranji Trophy final, Bengal's Anustup Majumdar looked set to be the saviour yet again, especially after building a 98-run partnership with Arnab Nandi for the seventh wicket. However, with Bengal just 64 short of the deficit, Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Unadkat removed Majumdar with a peach of an inswinger, before producing a magical run-out in the double-wicket maiden over early on day five.

What was that 'magical run out' all about?

Two balls after Majumdar's dismissal, Bengal's Akash Deep committed hara-kiri, ultimately gifting his wicket on nought to cause a huge sense of disbelief in the dressing room. Here's the detailed description of that moment, courtesy ball-by-ball commentary:

Unadkat to Akash Deep, out Akash Deep Run Out!! Talk about doing your basics wrong! Firstly, he was beaten on the outside edge as he went poking at this one. Barot (Keeper) realised that Deep's foot was just on the line and had a shy at the stumps that missed. Unadkat was alert as he had another throw at the stumps, and the skipper hit the bulls-eye. Saurashtra knew straightaway but Deep didn't even realize then what he had done. Must say great game awareness from Saurashtra. They are going for the kill here.

How was the game decided then?

Saurashtra bagged a crucial 44-run lead in their first innings which was just enough to clinch their maiden title.

Did the DRS experiment work?

It did, but both teams found themselves on the receiving end of a few referrals that caused massive split in opinion. During the fourth day's play, television umpire S Ravi overturned the on-field verdict against Saha (originally out) citing 'two noises at the point of impact'.

The interesting part was that Saha himself didn't feel any bat and the replays did reveal his conviction, only to be denied by a dicey decision from the third umpire. On the flip side, Bengal's Sudip Chatterjee got saved by DRS after he was wrongly given out lbw (inside edge) towards the end of day three. With no ball-tracking available, some of the lbw decisions seemed fifty-fifty but overall, it has reduced the number of howlers which, in a way, adds more promise for the seasons to come.

Why was Pujara not on the field?

After battling a sore throat and retiring hurt on day one, Pujara returned on day two to string a crucial partnership with Arpit Vasavada whilst scoring a stubborn 237-ball 66 during his stay. After his dismissal, the Indian batter spent the rest of the game in rest as a precautionary measure to get rid of the throat condition and body weakness.

Stats that matter:

- This is Saurashtra's first Ranji Trophy title after 73 years of wait.

- They are also the 18th team to win it for the first time.

- Jaydev Unadkat's 67 wickets is the second highest in a Ranji season, just behind Bihar's Ashutosh Aman who finished with 68 in the 2018-19 season.

- Unadkat also surpassed former India pacer Dodda Ganesh (62) to notch up most wickets by a pacer in a Ranji season.

- Bengal's captain Abhimanyu Easwaran has had a terrible season with the bat scoring only 258 runs in 17 innings which includes a lone fifty against his name.

Brief scores: Saurashtra425 all-out & 105-4 (Avi Barot 39; Shahbaz Ahmed 2-32) drew with Bengal381 all-out (Sudip Chatterjee 81, Wriddhiman Saha 64; Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 3-114).