Ranji Trophy 2019-20, Final: Saurashtra vs Bengal – Statistical Preview

Saurashtra and Bengal will clash off in the finals of the Ranji Trophy 2019-20 after comfortable victories in their respective semi-finals. Bengal have made it to the finals for the first time in 13 years thanks to collective effort from their players.

Saurashtra, on the other hand, have slightly relied on their skipper Jaydev Unadkat’s dream form. The left-arm pacer is only four wickets away from breaking the record for most wickets in a Ranji season. Both the teams will be benefited by the return on Test players after the New Zealand tour.

All the key stats and numbers ahead of the finals of the Ranji Trophy 2019-20 between Saurashtra and Bengal:

1 – Saurashtra and Bengal faced off only once against Saurashtra Cricket Stadium in the Ranji Trophy; during the 2012-13 season which the hosts won by 270 runs. The two teams clashed off three more times in Ranji Trophy at remaining venue over the last 75 years and all those three matches ending a draw.

3 – Saurashtra made it to the finals of the Ranji Trophy in the three of the previous seven editions of the tournament. They ended up losing the final by a fair margin in all those three instances. Saurashtra named by Nawanagar in 1936-37 and Western India in 1943-44 qualified for the finals and won the titles; both against Bengal only.

7 – Jaydev Unadkat has picked up seven 5-wicket hauls in this Ranji Trophy. He is only the 3rd pace bowler to register seven 5-fers during a Ranji season after Lakshmipathy Balaji (2002-03) and Aniket Choudhary (2018-19). Unadkat has recorded 10-wicket match hauls on three occasions in this season; the joint-most by any pacer alongside Balaji in 2002-03.

8 – Cheteshwar Pujara has a batting average of 8 in the finals of the Ranji Trophy. In two Ranji final appearances, Pujara recorded scores of 4, 27, 1 and 0. He aggregated 1 run during the last season’s final; the fewest runs he ever made in a Ranji Trophy game where he batted twice.

65 – Jaydev Unadkat has picked up 65 wickets in this Ranji Trophy thus far; the most by a pace bowler in an edition of Ranji. Unadkat’s 65 wickets are also the 2nd most for any player in a single edition of Ranji Trophy behind Ashutosh Aman’s 68 wickets during the 2018-19 season.

783 – Sheldon Jackson has scored 783 runs in this Ranji Trophy season across 9 matches. He scored those runs at an average of 52.2 with help of three centuries and three fifties. Jackson needs 124 more runs to record the most runs in a Ranji Trophy season for Saurashtra surpassing Cheteshwar Pujara’s 906 runs in the 2008-09 season.

2006/07 – The last instance of Bengal reaching final of the Ranji Trophy was during the 2006-07 season where they lost to Mumbai in the final by 132 runs. Bengal won the Ranji Trophy title twice – in 1938/39 and 1989/90 seasons.