AG Nagpur could not maintain their winning momentum as they went down in the final of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department (IA&AD) West Zone Cricket Tournament, 2022 conducted under the aegis of Accountant General Recreation Club (AGRC) of the Office of The Accountant General (A&E) II, Maharashtra at VCA Civil Lines ground on Friday. In the final, AG Rajkot defeated Nagpur by seven wickets to claim the title. Both the teams have qualified for the all India meet to be held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Put into bat, Nagpur, despite making a fluent start, could not score big as they posted 155 for six from 20 overs. Sanjay Ramaswamy (31) and Aditya Sarvate (54) added 68 runs for the opening wicket. Captain Akshay Wadkar (11) couldn’t last long as he holed out a catch at long-off. Sarvate’s knock had two boundaries and as many sixes. Shrikant Wagh scored a quickfire 24 (17b, 2x6, 1x4).

Jaydeep Bhati took two wickets, while Shourya Sanadia, Kuldeep Sharma, Benison Songavkar, Rahul Dave and Kuldeep Sharma took a wicket apiece for Rajkot. Chasing 156 runs, Rajkot achieved the target in 17.1 overs.

CAG team captain Arpit Vasavada scored his 3rd half-century of the tournament (56; 37b, 5x4, 2x6) and Sahil Karathiya scored 50 from 30 balls. Bension Songavkar contributed 15 while Kuldeep Raval added 21. Vasavada was declared Man of the match and man of the tournament (239 runs and one wicket). Dr Chhering Dorje, IPS, Special Inspector General of Police, Nagpur Range was the chief guest of the prizes distribution function.

Prashant Vaidya, former India pacer, R Thiruppathi Venkatasamy, Accountant General (Audit)-II, Maharashtra, Nagpur, Praveer Kumar, patron and Accountant General (A&E)-II, Nagpur, Dinesh Mate, Senior. Deputy Accountant General (Pension, Fund & Accounts) and Akshay Khandare, Senior Deputy Accountant General (Admn) were prominently present on the occasion.

Sanjay Ramaswamy of AG Nagpur (best batsman, 161 runs), Almas Shoukar of AG Jaipur, (best fielder), Shaurya Sanandia of AG Rajkot (best bowler), Aditya Sarvate of AG Nagpur (best all-rounder) were rewarded.

HT Fulpadia, Sr DAG (Admn) & Welfare Officer, Pallavi Holkar, Sr Dy Accountant General (AMG-II), Aditya R Bhojgadhiya, Sr Dy Accountant General, Branch office, Mumbai, Akshay Khandare, Dy Accountant General (Admn), Naresh Kumar Manne, Dy Accountant General (AMG-IV), Sunita Gunashekhar, Dy Director Finance & Communication, DA P&T, Dhanraj Chavhan, Welfare Officer (A&E) and others were also present. Sushma Kale and Anupama Bhattacharya conducted the proceedings while Subhash Talnikar, President, AGRC proposed a vote of thanks.