OVER 90 prizes and cash awards were given away by the VCA at a glittering Annual Awards function held at Bilimoria Hall, Civil Lines, Nagpur, on Saturday. Top individual performers as wellaschampionsandrunnersup of various BCCI and local tournamentsin the2024-25season,wererewarded for theirstellar feats with the bat and ball. Nagpur’s own Grandmaster Divya Deshmukh, the reigning Women’s World Cup Chess Champion graced the occasion as thechief guest and gave away the prizes.

 

Ten-time Ranji Trophy winner and Vidarbha stalwart Wasim Jaffer was the guest of honour. Deshmukh,whowon the2025 FIDEWorldCupchess title,making her the first Indian woman to achieve this distinction, was welcomed by VCA’s VicePresident Dr Avinash Deshmukh. He also presented herwithasilversalver,asa token of appreciation on behalf of the VCA. Dr Deshmukh appreciated Divya’s wonderful feat which putNagpurandVidarbhaon the sporting map of the world. He also thanked Divya for sharing her own life’s experiences with Vidarbha’s budding cricketers. In her speech, Divya said:

 

“This was my first time among so many cricketers and I really enjoyed the ambience and the excitement. It was great to see theplayerscheer forone anotheras theywentup toreceive their awards. Congratulations to all the winners and good luck for the new season.” Guest of honour, Jaffer, who was felicitated by Secretary Sanjay Badkas, said: “It is great to be back in a familiar environment.Ienjoyedmystintwith Vidarbha as a batsman and feel glad tohavecontributed tobackto-backRanjiTrophy triumphs. “Vidarbha have always been very strong at the junior level and I am glad thatVidarbha are now one of the strongest sides at the senior level in domestic cricket.

 

I am happy to be back to help young batsmen of Vidarbha realise their true potential and keep Vidarbha cricket strong and healthy.” TusharSuryawanshireceived the award for the Best Junior Cricketer Award in the men’s category for his batting while SanskarChavatewon the equivalent award for his bowling. In the Junior Women’s category, Arya Pongde received the Best Batter award while young Yashshri Soley once again bagged the Best Bowler award. AshishRoshankhede received acashawardofRs 5000 forbeing adjudged the Best Ground Marker for the 2024-25 season. AnkitaGuha,whobecamethe first woman umpire from Vidarbha to be inducted into the ICCPanel,wasfelicitated for this unique feat.

 

Ulhas Gandhe was also felicitated for becoming the first umpire fromVidarbha to officiate in 100 First-Class matches. Match Referees Soniya RajoriyaandNamaKhobragade and umpires Pavan Halavame and Vikrant Deshpande were also feted for being inducted intoBCCIpanelsintheirrespective categories. There were loud cheers for coach Usman Ghani, for winning the Ranji and Duleep Trophies with Vidarbha and Central Zone respectively.

 

As many as seven Vidarbha players — Harsh Dubey, Yash Thakur,AkshayWadkar,Danish Malewar, Yash Rathod, Aditya Thakare and Nachiket Bhute were also felicitated, along with video analyst Amit Manikrao, for being part of the Central Zone’s Duleep Trophy winning squad. Former India pacer Prashant Vaidya, who is the Chairman of VCA’s Cricket Administration & DevelopmentCommittee, said: “It’s our aim to build a strong and competitive structure to make sure that every young talent is harnessed.

 

After the successful conduct of the VPTL, our aim is to take it to districts at the junior level. We want to catch them young and work on their fitness and strengthso thatwhen theycome through the pipeline, they are ready toprogress to thenextlevel.” Also present on the occasion wereVCA’s Joint-Secretary Gautam Kale, Treasurer CA. Arjun Phatak, Alhad Gokhale (ExecutiveCommitteeMember) Adv Anand Deshpande, Samir Gujar,ChandrakantManke and others.