It’s thrice as nice for Vidarbha!

Akshay Wadkar & Co clinch their third title in seven seasons as they beat Kerala via 37-run first innings lead; skipper attributes triumph to timely preparation

Losing the Ranji Trophy final to Mumbai left such a bitter taste that Vidarbha started training for the following season from the monsoon itself, said skipper Akshay Wadkar after leading his team to a third title here on Sunday.

Vidarbha got hold of the trophy after earning the decisive first innings 37-run lead over Kerala here. “Last year, we lost the final. So we prepared during the monsoon itself. Every individual worked on himself. There are four Vidarbha batters among the top-ten run-getters this season,” said Wadkar at the post match presentation referring to the all-round effort of his squad.

“Harsh Dubey is the highest wicket-taker. Yash (Rathod) was the highest-run getter and Danish (Malewar) can turn a game around. “As a captain, if you’re playing the Ranji Trophy, I had a dream to lift it. Every first-class cricketer has that dream, and we’ve fulfilled that. We’re ticking all aspects, and we’ll look at what we can work on in the off-season,” the captain added.

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Left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey attracted plenty of attention over the course of the season and ended up with 69 wickets at an average of 16.98. He too was over the moon after being adjudged the player of the tournament. “It’s a dream-come-true moment. We lost the final last year. Akshay [Wakhare] bhai is retiring, so for him, it’s a big thing. In the off-season, I worked on my fitness and skills. This is a result of all that.

“I have a simple plan: take it one game at a time. I try to bowl in the right areas. I wouldn’t call myself a bowling all-rounder; rather, I’m a batting all-rounder. The end goal is to play for India, and I don’t want to complicate things thinking about it from now,” Dubey said.

Player of the match Malewar could not be more pleased to perform in the all important clash, scoring 153 and 73 in his two innings. “It was a great season for me. I got a lot of experience and learnings. I was able to contribute, and luckily, I had an impact in the final. I was prepared to get to a hundred; I was getting out in the 50s or 60s. Luckily, I was able to convert [into a hundred],” said Malewar.

Brief scores
Vidarbha 379 & 375-9 (K Nair 135, D Malewar 73; A Sarwate 4-96) beat Kerala 342 (S Baby 98, A Sarwate 79; D Nalkande 3-52, P Rekhade 3-65, H Dubey 3-88) on first innings lead

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