Ranji Trophy 2019-20: Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha set to play in the final

What's the story?

Cheteshwar Pujara and Wriddhiman Saha, India's Test specialists, will go head to head against each other as they will join the squads of Saurashtra and Bengal respectively ahead of the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy final.

The background

After Bengal knocked Karnataka out of the competition last evening, the Cricket Association of Bengal announced Wriddhiman Saha's inclusion in their squad for the big finale. Besides him, the state selectors also included uncapped batsman Sudip Gharami in their 16-man squad.

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Saurashtra secured their final berth in Rajkot today riding on Jaydev Unadkat's seven-wicket haul in the second innings. The home team overcame a challenge from Gujarat but not before Parthiv Patel and Chirag Gandhi gave them a scare with a 158-run stand for the sixth wicket.

The heart of the matter

Unadkat, who is also the captain of Saurashtra, gave an update on the availability of Ravindra Jadeja and Cheteshwar Pujara for the grand finale. He was quoted as follows by ESPNCricinfo:

"Cheteshwar will be back for sure, Ravindra I am not sure. We [Pujara and I] have been constantly in touch, he cares for the team as much as I do and I am sure he will be quite happy once he lands in Mumbai. He is in the flight back from New Zealand right now."

A support staffer of team Bengal spoke about Mohammed Shami's availability for the game and informed the sources:

"Saha will play. Not Shami, there is the South Africa series."

What's next?

With the ODI series against South Africa approaching soon, it is unlikely that Jadeja and Shami will take part in the Ranji Trophy final. However, the fans will witness a battle between Pujara and Saha in the title clash.