'Dismissing Pujara in both innings of Ranji Trophy final a dream come true,' says Vidarbha's Aditya Sarwate

Nagpur; the stage was set for the Ranji Trophy final. The sun was beating down at the VCA Stadium as Vidarbha and Saurashtra took centre stage in their efforts to win the prestigious Ranji Trophy title. The defending champions Vidarbha were confident of winning back to back titles, but had to get past a Saurashtra side that had the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Jaydev Unadkat in their ranks.

Vidarbha scored 312 in their first innings, Saurashtra replied with 307. The game was in the balance before Saurashtra decided to put the Vidarbha batsmen on the backfoot. In the third innings, Vidarbha were reduced to 105 for 6 when Aditya Sarwate walked out to bat. Sarwate scored 49 and rescued the defending champions. Earlier, he had scalped five wickets in the first innings to restrict Saurashtra to 307.

All this meant that Saurashtra had to chase 206 to create history, but Sarwate had other plans. The left-arm-spinner rattled the Saurashtra batting line-up and ended with figures of 6 for 59. He was awarded the Man of the Match for his incredible performance with both bat and ball and in an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda, Sarwate spoke about his magnificent performance.

"The performance was really good, not only mine but each and every player contributed in one game or the other. As a team, we were a very good unit. Definitely, he (Chandrakant Pandit) has been great for the team. He told us not to be complacent. Regardless of the team you're facing, you cannot afford to be complacent.

"Nobody's place in the side was guaranteed; if you do well you’ll stay otherwise you’ll have to go. That’s the reason the entire team was focused on winning the Ranji Trophy," said Sarwate.

Talking about the plan before the finals, Sarwate said, "There was no message, we played each and every game as positively as possible. Obviously, before the finals, there was pressure on us because we were the defending champions and many of the people had called us one-season wonders.

"The pressure was there but the captain and each player knew what they had to do so I think we did well and played according to our plan".

The all-rounder also opened up about the bond between the individual members of the team, saying, "There is no barrier between the senior and the junior players. The junior players get to learn a lot from the senior players. There is no ego in our team and each and every player enjoys the others' success. The senior players and the coach used to guide the youngsters from time to time and used to instil positivity".

Sarwate dismissed Indian Test stalwart Pujara twice in the finals and was elated with the achievement. "Pujara is a Test player, our plan was to not let him settle at the wicket since it would have become very difficult to get him out. We had a plan for every batsman. Our plan was to stick to the line and length. He had a wonderful series in Australia and getting him out in both the innings was a dream come true for me".

Sarwate finished the season as the third highest wicket-taker with 55 wickets, but feels he can still improve ahead of the next season. "Bowling wise I bowled quite well compared to last year but I think I could’ve done much better in the batting department. Next year, I will try to improve my batting performance. I live in the present, whatever opportunities come my way, I would like to grab them and do well".