Bengal: 14 Ranji finals, only two Ranji titles
Jaydev Unadkat's solo act, and other numbers ahead of the Ranji Trophy final
Bharath Seervi
06-Mar-2020
14 Number of times Bengal have reached the Ranji Trophy finals, including their final appearance this time. Only two teams have got to the final more times: Mumbai have done it 46 times and Delhi have reached there on 15 occasions. Karnataka have also appeared 14 times. However, Bengal have won the final only twice, ending up as runners up on 11 other occasions.
15.38 Bengal's win percentage in their final appearances is the lowest among all teams who have played in at least ten Ranji finals. Their last two finals were in successive seasons - 2005-06 and 2006-07 - and they ended as runners-up both times, losing to Uttar Pradesh first, then Mumbai.
65 Wickets for Jaydev Unadkat in this season, which is already the second-most by a bowler in a Ranji season. He needs four more wickets in the final to go past the record of 68 wickets by Bihar's Ashutosh Aman last season. Unadkat has seven five-wicket hauls this season and only two bowlers have more: Nine for Ashutosh and eight for Bishan Singh Bedi in 1974-75. Saurashtra's second-highest wicket-taker of the season has not even taken half of Unadkat's tally; Dharmendrasinh Jadeja is second with 29 wickets.
51 Wickets picked by Saurashtra's other fast bowlers apart from Unadkat. While Unadkat has picked up 65 wickets at an average of 12.16, the other Saurashtra quicks have combined for just 51 wickets at an average of 34.19. None of the other fast bowlers has any five-wicket hauls whereas Unadkat has picked up seven five-fors and three ten-fors. Unadkat, who is also Saurashtra's captain, might want his fast bowling partners to provide greater support to lift a maiden Ranji Trophy title.
| Bowler | Wickets | Ave | SR | 5WI | 10WM |
| Jaydev Unadkat | 65 | 12.16 | 25.6 | 7 | 3 |
| All other Saurashtra pacers | 51 | 34.19 | 67.0 | 0 | 0 |
18.44 Average of Bengal's pacers this Ranji season. Only three teams' quicks had better average - Puducherry, Haryana and Chandigarh - and none of them were from the combined A and B groups that consisted of 18 teams. Three Bengal fast bowlers have picked up 20-plus wickets at an average of less than 20: Akash Deep (30 wickets, 17.33 ave), Mukesh Kumar (30 wickets, 19.36 ave) and Ishan Porel (22 wickets, 16.81 ave). For Saurashtra, only Unadkat has 20-plus wickets at an average of less than 20.
Bharath Seervi is stats sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo @SeerviBharath