HIGH on confidence Vidarbha will take on Group A toppers Uttar Pradesh in their penultimate and crucial Vijay Hazare Trophy One-Day match at Niranjan Shah ‘C’ ground in Rajkot on Tuesday. Barring a blip in their opening game against Bengal, Vidarbha are on a roll in the tournament registering four back-to-back victories to take the second spot on the table behind Uttar Pradesh, who have an all-win record. The Harsh-Dubey led side will bank on in-form opener Aman Mokhade who has hit three centuries in the competition. The talented right hander has shown immense maturity against star-studded Baroda in the last game which had former Vidarbha wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma apart from Krunal and Hardik Pandya among others.

 

His unbeaten 150 was the cornerstone of Vidarbha’s impressive win the other day. Mokhade has been in imperious form since making his Ranji debut last year, belting centuries with ease. Another opener Athrava Taide, too, has shown his batting prowess in the last game with a half century (65). Professional Dhruv Shorey is also collecting runs in heap which is helping Vidarbha either put up big scores or chase down the targets with ease. The middle-order is manned by another pro in R Samarth, who too has a ton under his belt in the tournament apart from Yash Rathod, the mainstay of Vidarbha batting in the middle.

 

Ranji captain Akshay Wadkar will give support in the lower middle order along with captain all-rounder Dubey who can hit big apart from being the premier spinner of the side. The bowling department will be handled by pacers Yash Thakur, Praful Hinge and Nachiket Bhute who all have the capability to take 10 wickets. Uttar Pradesh will be led by captain hard-hitting batter Rinku Singh. The top order will be handled by Abhishek Goswami, Aryan Juyal, wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel. Rinku will have support of Priyam Garg and Sameer Rizvi apart from spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who has been included in the Indian One-Day side for the New Zealand series.