India have tried a number of players for the spot including Rishabh Pant, Vijay Shankar and Ambati Rayudu but all of them have failed at times under pressure.
India's dependable No 3 landed and scored 162 for MRC against Crombest Club giving another example of his commitment towards the game irrespective of the level of competition.
Uttar Pradesh captain Raina guided his team to victory in 18.3 overs after openers Upendra Yadav 25 and Samarth Singh 36 provided a steady start.
Vihari feels his India stint will make a difference as it has upped his confidence so necessary in a slam-bang tournament.
Cheteshwar Pujara's ton came against Railways in the domestic T20 tournament - Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy. In doing so, Pujara also became the first batsman from Saurashtra to hit a hundred in the format.
Kohli is leading the chart with 992 rating points ahead of New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson (897 points) and Pujara (881). Besides Kohli and Pujara, no other Indian feature in the top 10 list.
Pujara, his national teammates Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah were nominated for the Sportsman of the Year (Team Sport) award, along with Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri.
An interview with Wasim Jaffer - the timeless Indian cricketer.
Pujara, who is calm in nature which is quite opposite to the aggressive Kohli, talked about what is his equation with the Indian skipper.
While Aditya was juggling with a lot of things in his personal life, his talents on the field failed to bring him a Ranji Trophy selection.
Left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate once again turned out to be star batsman's nemesis as he was trapped leg before for nought with Saurashtra tottering at 58 for 5 in their pursuit of 206.
The battle lines are drawn and the summit clash will not just be about Cheteshwar Pujara and Umesh Yadav only but also about Wasim Jaffer, who is a domestic doyen in every sense of the terms.
No matter how much we rave about Kohli and Pujara, they still have a long way to go before being considered amongst the greatest Test batsmen of all time.
Cheteshwar Pujara played two match-winning, unbeaten knocks in the quarter-final and semi-final against Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka respectively, to guide Saurashtra into the Ranji Trophy final.
Saurashtra will now meet defending champions Vidarbha in the final of the national championship to be played from February 3-7 in Jaipur.
Cheteshwar Pujara hit his 49th first class hundred and shared an unconquered 201-run fourth-wicket stand with Sheldon Jackson (90) to help Saurashtra end day four at 224/3, just 55 runs away from victory against Karnataka.
He is incidentally the only Indian player to have faced more than 500 balls in a single Test innings - against Australia in Ranchi.
Apart from Agarwal, skipper Manish Pandey, who has been scoring runs, will be looking to continue his good form. Karun Nair and Jaydev Unadkat are the other players who would like to contribute for Karnataka.
While many consider Pujara to be a red-ball specialist, the batsman differed by saying that his white-ball record speaks for itself.
Having scored 385 in their first innings, Uttar Pradesh removed Cheteshwar Pujara cheaply on the second day and mopped the tail on the third morning for 208 to take a substantial 177 run lead in first innings.
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