High on confidence, Vid take on Rajasthan in QF
   Date :18-Nov-2021

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 Jitesh Sharma has been in red hot form this season with the willow clearing the boundaries at will and with ease.
 
 
Sports Reporter :
 
AFTER topping the Plate Group and then thumping a better-rated side Maharashtra in the pre-quarters, high on confidence, Vidarbha will take on Rajasthan in quarter-finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Twenty20 cricket tournament at the Air Force Complex ground, Palam, New Delhi on Thursday. Vidarbha, who are on a roll, have not been a great Twenty20 side and for the same reason got relegated to the Plate Group. But a determined set of players led by new skipper Akshay Wadkar, rose to the occasion every time and have won six matches in a row in this tourney. Young Vidarbha pacers Yash Thakur, Darshan Nalkande, Aaditya Thakare have done well considering their cumulative experience at the top level in domestic cricket. They have been brilliantly supported by senior spinners in the side — ambidextrous Akshay Karnewar and offie Akshay Karnewar. Young Atharva Taide has been very good at the top while his opening Siddhesh Wath is due for a big knock. Wadkar provides that stability at the top coming at number three. Shubham Dubey, Jitesh Sharma and Apoorv Wankhade have it in them to score at a brisk pace. Sharma, in particular, has been in red hot form this season with the willow clearing the boundaries at will and with ease.
 
He has blossomed in his new batting position in the middle order that gives him license to go for the kill. Sharma is the only Vidarbha player to have scored more than 1000 runs (1317) in the shortest format. Wankhade (989) is behind him and has a chance to join Sharma in 1000-run club in the quarters. It will be the toughest test of character of Vidarbha players against Rajasthan, that comprise many India and IPL stars. Rajasthan topped the Elite Group C winning all their five matches. On their way to the quarters, Rajasthan defeated Haryana by 30 runs, Andhra by 11 runs, Himachal by seven wickets, Jammu and Kashmir by five wickets, Jharkhand by six wickets to keep the slate clean and accumulate full 20 points. Rajasthan have a solid bowling attack. Dangerous left-arm pace duo of Khaleel Ahmed and Aniket Chaudhary will lead the charge.
 
They have India bowler leggie Rahul Chahar and also Ravi Bishnoi, who also belongs to the same tribe. Skipper Ashok Menaria, Mahipal Lomror, openers Manender Singh and Ankit Lamba are proven customers. In their last meeting in the shortest format, Vidarbha, who collapsed to 104 in 19.3 overs, lost to Rajasthan by three wickets in Elite Group D match in Indore on January 11, 2021. Cousins Deepak Chahar, who is on India duty against New Zealand in the T20 meet, and Rahul returned with three wickets each. But to their credit, Vidarbha did well with the ball to pick seven rival wickets with Nalkande (4-20) and Wakhare (3-33) sharing the spoils. This time, Vidarbha will need much better team effort to see off Rajasthan if they are to make the semi-finals. Match starts 8.30 am. TEAMS (from) Vidarbha: Akshay Wadkar (C), Siddhesh Wath (VC) Atharva Taide, R Sanjay, Ganesh Satish, Yash Rathod, Jitesh Sharma, Apoorv Wankhade, Shubham Dubey, Akshay Karnewar, Akshay Wakhare, Harsh Dubey, Parth Rekhade, Ganesh Bhosale, Darshan Nalkande, Yash Thakur, Siddhesh Neral, Aditya Thakare, Sooraj Rai, Lalit Yadav. Rajasthan: Ashok Menaria (c), Khaleel Ahmed, Akash Singh, Bharat Sharma, Rajesh Bishnoi, Rahul Chahar, Aniket Choudhary, Rajat Choudhary, Chandrapal Singh, Aditya Garhwal, Arjit Gupta, Salman Khan, Yash Kothari, Ankit Lamba, Mahipal Lomror, Manender Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Ajayraj Singh, Tanveer Ul-Haq.