Thirsty for THIRD In-form Vidarbha seek third Ranji title

 

 

THEY were not lucky third time but a confident Vidarbha, who have registered eight outright wins out of nine games on their way to the Ranji Trophy final, are eyeing glory as they take on Kerala, who have made it to their maiden summit clash, at VCA’s Jamtha Stadium from Wednesday. Vidarbha, who have a clean record of winning all their four semi-finals till date, faltered at the final hurdle when Mumbai got the better of them at Wankhede Stadium last year. But the former two-time champions have come back much stronger and dominated the tournament as never before to enter their second back-to-back title clash this season. Incidentally, they thumped a star-studded Mumbai in the last-four game last week at the very venue bringing life to a full circle.

 

Vidarbha are the only team in India to have reached four finals since they won their maiden final at Indore on New Year day of January 2018. This season is by far the best for Vidarbha in terms of outright wins, a couple of which have come after conceding first innings lead. They have bounced back in style after being cornered. Except for solid starts, the team has performed well at all fronts. Professionals Karun Nair (642 runs) and Dhruv Shorey (446 runs) have played their part with the willow. Left-handed Yash Rathod (933 runs) is their best batter and needs 17 more runs to become the top run-getter in the tournament. He is one of the two players to have struck five tons this season. Akshay Wadkar (674 runs) has been a busy player as always and is the second best run-getter for the side. Young Danish Malewar (557 runs) is a revelation in the middle-order and as an agile close-in fielder. Southpaw all-rounder Harsh Dubey (460 runs, 66 wickets) has had a wonderful season with both bat and ball. He scored five consecutive half centuries and is on the cusp of a major national bowling record. Dubey, who overtook the legendary Bishen Singh Bedi in the last game, needs just three more wickets to be the best bowler in Ranji Trophy in a season. With 68 wickets, Ashutosh Aman presently holds the record. Dubey also have a chance to become Vidarbha’s fastest to hundred Ranji wickets. Lanky seamer Aditya Thakare, who missed the semis with a niggle, is fit and has given many breakthroughs to the team. He has taken 28 wickets. Other seamer Yash Thakur has been a good support. Veteran off-spinner Akshay Wakhare, with 27 scalps, is the next best bowler. Wakhare missed the Mumbai game but with four left-handed batters in Kerala team, the team think tank might be tempted to include him in the playing XI. On the other hand, Kerala have been riding on luck. The team from God’s Own Country has recorded just three outright victories on the way to final. Both their knock-out games have been super close.

 

A one run first innings lead over Jammu & Kashmir gave them a spot in the semis where they took a two-run lead in the first innings in a thrilling finish against Gujarat. It will be interesting to see, whether they are lucky for the third time! Professionals Jalaj Saxena (38 wkts) and former Vidarbha player Aditya Sarvate (30 wkts) have played huge roles to take the team to their first ever Ranji final. The offie and the left-arm spinner dealt telling blows when the team needed. Salman Nizar (607 runs) and Mohammed Azharuddeen (601) have scored in excess of 600 runs while skipper Sachin Baby, who will be playing his 100th First-Class match, has hit four fifties accumulating 418 runs. On head-to-head account, both teams have won two each out of the eight games but Vidarbha have come up trumps on both the occasions in the knock-out games when they annexed national titles. All in all, Vidarbha look much better and balanced team. With home advantage on their side, a third title beckons.