LEFT-HANDED opener Atharva Taide will lead Vidarbha’s 17-member squad in the Elite Group ‘D’ matches of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy to be played in Kolkata from November 14-26, 2026. The 26-year-old Taide was instrumental in escorting Bharat Rangers to the final of Vidarbha Premier League last season. Bharat Rangers lost the final to Pagariya Strikers by eight runs. Taide had slammed three fifties in the tournament with the highest score, an unbeaten 62 from 39 deliveries, coming against NECO Master Blaster. Taide had a couple of half centuries as well, a 52 from 28 balls against India Warriors and a 37-ball 56 against Nagpur Heroz. Taide was also with the Vidarbha Ranji squad this season but did not get a game in four matches the team played so far. The T20 team also has Ravikumar Samarth, who was the top scorer of VPL 2026, with 459 runs.

 

 

 

The Vidarbha professional had scored a century and four half centuries in the tournament. The squad also has southpaw Yash Rathod who had a brilliant India ‘A’ tour to New Zealand where he scored a total of 223 runs across his innings. Apart from hitting a brilliant century in the second ‘Unofficial Test’ against New Zealand ‘A’ at Christchurch, he had bailed our India ‘A’ in the first game with a 72-ball 66. Vidarbha team also include hard-hitting left-handed batter Shubham Dubey. Dubey plays for Rajasthan Royals in Indian Premier League (IPL) and India Warriors in VPL. The team will miss the services of premier spinner Harsh Dubey, who has been included in India ‘A’ squad for ACC Men’s Rising Stars Asia Cup to be held in Doha, Qatar from November 19. THE SQUAD: Atharva Taide (Captain), Aman Mokhade, Danish Malewar, Shubham Dubey, R Samarth, Varun Bisht, Yash Kadam, Yash Rathod, Adhyayan Daga, Vedant Jajoo, Parth Rekhade, Nachiket Bhute, Praful Hinge, Darshan Nalkande, Mandar Ghodmare, Saurabh Dubey, Abhishek Agrawal. SUPPORT STAFF: Coach: Usman Ghani. Asst Coach (fielding): Sebastian Antony. S&C Coach: Yuvraj Singh Dasondhi. Physio: Dr Nitin Khurana. Video Analyst: Ajeenkya Sawale. Masseur: Bhushan Zhade. Sidearm ball thrower: Swapnil Bhisikar. Manager: Mohd Sabir.