"It was only a matter of time before we won the championship" - Chetan Sakariya on Saurashtra's Vijay Hazare Trophy triumph

Saurashtra pacer Chetan Sakariya claimed that the team always knew that they weren't far away from winning a white-ball tournament.

Over the past few years, Saurashtra have come close to achieving the target on multiple occasions. They managed to cross the final hurdle this season, beating Maharashtra in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final by five wickets.

Sakariya feels many assumed Saurashtra were just a good red-ball team following their Ranji Trophy win in 2020. He feels some thought they didn't have the talent to compete across all formats.

In that context, their most recent title win was even sweeter as they were able to prove their critics wrong. Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, Chetan Sakariya explained why Saurashtra will only get better as an all-format team. He said:

"Many used to say that we are just a red-ball team suitable to play only the longest format. But we always feel deep down that we are much more capable than what people say. We believed we could make an impact across all formats."

He added:

"If you look at our record over the last five years, we have gone deep into the tournaments. Even the games that we have lost in the knockouts have been pretty close ones. I feel we have all the bases covered and it was only a matter of time before we won the championship.

Sakariya confidently stated:

"You will see Saurashtra produce more top-quality players in the near future."

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Chetan Sakariya on Jaydev Unadkat's contribution

Chetan Sakariya believes Jaydev Unadkat has had a lion's share in Saurashtra's Ranji Trophy win as well as their 2022 Vijay Hazare Trophy triumph. He feels the team's success is almost directly proportional to how their skipper performs.

Unadkat ended up as the highest wicket-taker in this year's Vijay Hazare Trophy, with 19 scalps to his name. On this, Sakariya stated:

"If you see, whenever Jaydev Bhai was the star performer, we won the championship. This happened in the Ranji Trophy where he picked up around 68 wickets and we became champions.

"The other bowlers did chip in with wickets whenever needed, but he took most of the load of the bowling. The same thing happened in this tournament as Jaydev Bhai picked up the big wickets."

Chetan Sakariya also spoke about the efforts that Unadkat took off the field to back the players going through a rough patch, helping them train better, and much more. He added:

"Jaydev Bhai also backed the players who went through a rough patch. He spoke to players personally and advised them about the changes that they can make to their game.

"It's always easy when you're performing well. But when you're having a tough time, these advices help a lot. So, he leads the team both on and off the field."

Chetan Sakariya's words about Jaydev Unadkat show just how influential the latter has been in forming a champion team mixed with youth and experience.