Saurashtra is a settled side, it is not easy to break into the playing XI. Saurashtra has one of the most formidable middle order in the domestic circuit with the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Sheldon Jackson, Arpit Vasavada, Prerak Mankad, and Chirag Jani in their ranks. The 22-year-old Jay Gohil made his first-class debut because Cheteshwar Pujara is in Bangladesh, playing for India. Filling the big boots of someone, who he has idolised was never easy but Gohil did it in some style and in a very un-Pujara way. He scored the double century in 216 balls against Assam, becoming only the 13th Indian to achieve that feat. He scored 227 off 246 balls with the help of 32 boundaries and two sixes. Gohil's 280-run stand for the second with Harvik Desai (108) has put Saurashtra in the commanding position. "The feeling I certainly can't describe. I think I was the first debutant for Saurashtra in the last three-four years. When Sheldon Jackson gave me the cap, he told me to make the most of it," Gohil tells The Indian Express after the day's play. "I was batting on 177 overnight and there were butterflies. Everyone in the team bus told me that it's a good opportunity for me to score a double hundred. I just wanted to get those 23 runs quickly," he says. The past couple of months have been quite a rollercoaster ride for Jay Gohil. He was juggling with the state senior team as well as the U-25 side, which he leads. Gohil captained the Saurashtra U-25 side to the One Day Trophy. In seven matches, he scored 363 runs, including four fifties. He caught the eyes of the selectors and was picked for the Vijay Hazare Trophy during the knockouts. "It was crazy. I was with the U-25 team, and then I was called for Vijay Hazare. I scored 34 in the quarter-final (Tamil Nadu) and 61 in the semi-final (Karnataka). We won the Vijay Hazare Trophy and then I again joined the U-25 side and I scored 81 in the final (Madhya Pradesh) and we won the title," shares Gohil. During the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Gohil got the chance to speak with Cheteshwar Pujara. "Chintu bhaiya is a man of few words. Syed Mushtaq Ali didn't go that well for me and I was a bit tense, so he came to me, and we spoke at length. He shared his valuable experience. He told me that I am not doing anything wrong and asked me to stick to my basics. With the seniors like him around, things got easy and those words did wonders to me and after that, I have done well," he says. In a very brief career, Gohil has only tasted success and he wants his Midas touch to carry on. "It has been going well so far, I want to continue this purple patch. Tomorrow, hopefully, we will get early breakthroughs and win this match, then only it will be a perfect debut," he signs off. Brief Scores Assam: 286 & 115 for 1 Saurashtra: 492 (Jay Gohil 227, Harvik Desai 108)
