Standing on the lush green turf at Lucknow’s 50,000-seater Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Saurashtra coach Sitanshu Kotak taxes his memory but is unable to remember the last time his team was comprehensively outplayed in the Ranji Trophy.

Such has been Saurashtra’s consistency in this format that they have clinched as many as eight outright wins in their previous 16 matches. Their impressive run this year saw them qualify in second spot in the Elite Groups A and B. Even on the rare occasion when they have had their backs to the wall, like in the league encounter against Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium, Kotak’s team displayed remarkable resilience to mount a stirring fightback to almost pull off a miraculous win.

On the eve of their quarter-final against hosts Uttar Pradesh, the coach exuded a quiet sense of achievement at his team’s march into the last eight. More so, because Saurashtra never had the luxury of fielding a full-strength side.

Kotak puts matters into perspective when he said “Things were really tough at the start. We missed both Cheteshwar and Ravindra due to their international commitments, while both Robin and Kushang missed the whole season due to injury. On the bowling front, we were hampered when our most experienced bowler in Jaydev , too, broke down in the middle of the season. So, we needed players who could replace them immediately. It was the ultimate test of our bench strength.”

In the absence of the fancied names, inexperienced players like Chetan Sakaria, Vishwaraj Jadeja and Hardik Rathod stepped up with vital contributions. In doing so, they complemented the likes of Dharmendra Jadeja, who is enjoying a breakthrough season with the ball with 38 scalps while at the same time orchestrating some dour performances with the bat lower down the order.

Dharmendra apart, there’s Kamlesh Makvana, another dogged all-rounder, chipping in with his off-spinners and handy contributions lower down the order. All this meant that Saurashtra were never overtly reliant on a handful of players.

As far as their batting goes, Sheldon Jackson, despite his inconsistency, remains Saurashtra’s top scorer with 613 runs from eight matches. The 32-year-old began the season on an emphatic note with a century in the season opener against Chhattisgarh before hitting a lean patch.

Despite showing strains of indiscretion, he did manage to turn a corner somewhat with four consecutive fifties in the last two games. Even as teamwork remains Saurashtra’s watchword, the top order’s inability to convert starts is an area they would like to rectify.

“I think this team is playing as a unit and there has been a constant effort to improve some of the areas such as contributions from the lower order, which has given us the momentum. But I would like my batsmen to convert those starts into big 100s. If they do that in the knockouts, we will be in a very strong position,” Kotak asserted.