Vidarbha's X-factor, Aditya Sarwate

Getting Pujara out in both the innings and allowing him to score a solitary run in the entire game, Sarwate made a mockery out of the Test specialist in the Ranji Trophy final.

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Vidarbha's X-factor, Aditya Sarwate
Aditya Sarwate (PTI Photo)

An unfamiliar name in the echelons of Indian cricket, 29-year-old all-rounder Aditya Sarwate starred both with the bat and the ball in the Ranji Trophy final to show he is a big match player.

The left-arm spinner took eleven wickets in the marquee clash and made a valuable contribution of 49 runs in the second innings to setup 204-run target against Saurashtra.

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Sarwate fondly remembers the time he had during the match.

"The match was like a dream come true. Every player dreams to win a final for his team, it was the same with me. I will cherish it for the rest of my life," he told Mail Today from Nagpur.

The match had many glittering moments but his battle with in-form Cheteshwar Pujara was the highlight of the match.

Getting Pujara out in both the innings and allowing him to score a solitary run in the entire game, Sarwate made a mockery out of the Test specialist. The spinner, however, said the luck was on his side during the match.

"We wanted to get him (Pujara) out early as we knew once he gets set at the crease he will take the game away from us. I feel I just got lucky to get him out early in both the innings as I had no special plan in mind against him," remembered Sarwate.

Beginning his club cricket career at the age of 18, Ranji Trophy selection came late for Sarwate. Despite consistent performance at the club level, the first-class cricketer made his Ranji debut back in 2015 at the age of 25.

Four years later, it's hard to believe the 'batting all-rounder' (as he likes to call himself) is the third-highest wicket-taker of the recently-concluded season with 55 wickets in 11 games.

Sarwate credits Vidarbha coach Chandrakant Pandit, who always kept him on his toe to deliver his best, for the fairytale turnaround. "Chandrakant sir has a very disciplined and straight-forward approach towards coaching. Either you perform or perish. I believe it is the right approach as it pushed us to performance at best of our capabilities," said Sarwate.

The off-spinner carried his form into the Irani Trophy as well by taking three wickets on the first innings of Irani Trophy, which included prized scalps of Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari. And late on Day three, picked the wicket of Mayank Agarwal.

Sarwate (18 runs) also played a crucial role with the bat as he stitched a 58-run stand with centurion Akshay Karnewar after half of the side went back to pavillion after adding just 168 runs to the board in reply to Rest of India's 330.