Big Picture

Bengal won their first Ranji Trophy title nearly a decade before independence, in 1938-39. It then took them over 50 years to get their hands on the trophy again, in 1989-90, a game famously remembered for 17-year-old Sourav Ganguly replacing older brother Snehasish in the final.

Bengal have reached three more finals since, without much luck. On Thursday, they will play their fourth final since that triumph, looking to avoid the mistakes they made in 2019-20, against the same opponents, Saurashtra.

There's one difference, though. This time, like they did in that 1989-90 triumph, they will be playing the final at their beloved Eden Gardens, looking to channel the spirit that once made them a feared team. Arun Lal, Sambaran Bannerjee, Utpal Chatterjee and Ashok Malhotra, all heroes from that campaign, went on to have stellar domestic careers.

Saurashtra have a rich cricketing history but entering the Ranji Trophy final is something they have only been able to consistently achieve over the past decade. This one will be their fifth final since 2012-13.

Saurashtra is a team that doesn't have the talent pool of Mumbai or the club structures of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. It's a team that has often had to channel a limited resources in the best possible way. It also explains why they are a close-knit unit that everyone takes great pride in playing for. A title win here will seal their status as the best first-class team in the country currently.

Current form (most-recent matches first)

Saurashtra: WWLLW

Bengal: WWLWW

Player to watch out for - Anustup Majumdar and Chetan Sakariya

Team news and Possible XIs:

Bengal have everyone fit and available.

Bengal: 1 Abhimanyu Easwaran, 2 Karan Lal, 3 Sudip Kumar Gharami, 4 Anustup Majumdar, 5 Manoj Tiwary (capt), 6 Shahbaz Ahmed, 7 Abishek Porel (wk), 8 Pradipta Pramanik, 9 Akash Deep, 10 Mukesh Kumar, 11 Ishan Porel

Saurashtra: 1 Harvik Desai, 2 Snell Patel, 3 Vishwaraj Jadeja/Jay Gohil, 4 Sheldon Jackson, 5 Arpit Vasavada, 6 Chirag Jani, 7 Prerak Mankad, 8 Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, 9 Jaydev Unadkat, 10 Chetan Sakariya, 11 Yuvrajsinh Dodiya

Pitch and conditions

Fast bowling is Bengal's strength with their strong pace battery - Mukesh, Akash Deep and Porel - all in good form. Not surprisingly, the Eden Gardens curators have prepared a greenish-looking surface that could aid swing and seam. It's extremely different to the pitch Saurashtra prepared in Rajkot when the two sides last met in the final of the 2019-20 season.

Stats that matter

Quotes

"The Ranji Trophy is a marathon. To make it for two finals in three seasons is a measure of our self-belief and winning mindset. We dream of winning titles regularly across formats. And we've backed it up with solid plans and work over half-a-decade."
Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat believes their recent-success is no fluke.

"I want my boys to stay grounded as we haven't yet won the big prize."
Bengal coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla sounds a quiet warning to his team.