Of the four teams playing in the semifinals of the 2008-09 Ranji Trophy, Saurashtra are the only side to have never won the coveted title. Last season, too, they had reached the semis before bowing out.
Saurashtra haven’t got many to boast for when it comes to donning the national colours. The last person to do so was Dilip Doshi (though he played for Bengal for many years) in 1985 just after left-arm seamer Karsan Ghavri, who later shifted his base to Bombay.
But all that may change soon. Saurashtra have started dreaming big in the last couple of seasons with a blend of youth and experience.
They had veteran Sitanshu Kotak to guide them along with young talents such as Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja, Jaydev Shah and Sandip Jobanputra.
This time, Saurashtra want to create history. “I can’t guarantee that we will win. What I can say is we have the talent to do so, but everything depends on who performs better on a particular day,” Saurashtra coach Debu Mitra told DNA.
Mitra has pinned his hopes on a few players who have it in them to make it to the Test level. “Pujara, Jadeja, Shah, Jobanputra all are good players and if they keep on performing, they will surely play Test cricket and we will also win our first Ranji Trophy title,” Mitra said a day after they shocked Karnataka in quarterfinals.
Ghavri also felt that this bunch of youngsters have mixed well with experienced guys like Kotak. “Saurashtra are the only team to have taken first-innings lead against Mumbai in the group league. So, if the batsmen manage to put up a score of around 450, Mumbai will be under pressure in semis,” Ghavri felt.
“Saurashtra have been depending mainly on Pujara and he has been delivering the goods time and again. If these boys are consistent like they are, they can expect to create havoc this time,” he said.
Pujara apart, Ghavri picked Jadeja, Shah and Jobanputra as the future hopes.
“These young boys are capable of making it to the national side, but they have to be as consistent as they are now,” the former left-arm seamer felt.
