Arpit Vasavada, who scored a crucial century in the Ranji Trophy final with his childhood friend Cheteshwar Pujara on Tuesday, revealed that he was determined to bat with Pujara, a plan that worked out pretty well for Saurashtra. Both Vasavada (106 off 287) and Pujara (66 off 237) batted for five hours on the second and added 142 runs off 380 balls.

“We have been playing together since long. It was in my mind that because of Pujara’s health, he will bat after me and I knew he would be there (in the middle). So, for me it was about not getting tired and keep playing with him,” said Vasavada.

Cheteshwar Pujara and Vasavada put the team in a strong position, taking it to 384 for eight. However, Vasavada said that batting alongside him helped him a lot.

“We batted well. It is not an easy wicket. We have got runs on the board so we have an upper hand. We just wanted to bat as long as possible to tire them out,” he said. “It was about staying on the wicket. I have learnt from Pujara’s father. Even Cheteshwar was telling me in the middle, what to do, what not to do. I get a lot confidence when he is at the other end.”

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On the other hand, Bengal coach Arun Lal rated the pitch as “very poor” on day one.

“No. it is a poor wicket, it’s not a cricketing wicket. It is slow and low. They batted off course but in cricket there is bowling, fielding, spin and pace. It’s not only batting. And batting 170 runs (178 actually) in the whole day. They also could not score with the ball keeping so low,” he said.

However, he said that he was proud of his bowlers as they did very well in the final.

“We are not out of the game yet. The match is open. The only thing is, they have runs on the board and we have not. If we have a good start, we can get these runs,” Arun Lal said. “I would have been happier if we restricted them to 300-325 but they played well. In morning session, they (Pujara and Vasavada) did not take any chances. They taught us how to play on this wicket. To bowl on a dead pitch requires a lot of effort. We were able to contain them. I am reasonably happy.”