Unbeaten Vid ready for Siraj challenge
   Date :30-Jan-2025

Mohd Shami walks
 Vidarbha’s Yash Rathod takes slip catches during the training session on the eve of thier Ranji Trophy match against Hyderabad at VCA Civil Lines ground. (Pics by Anil Futane)(Mohd Shami walks in to bat in nets on Wednesday.)
 
 
By Paritosh Pramanik ;
 
Take on Hyderabad in their last Ranji Trophy league game at home 
 
They are the best in the business (Ranji Trophy) this season, topping the table with 34 points. Not a single team, barring Vidarbha, from the pack of 32, has that much of points in its kitty going into the final round of the Ranji Trophy which begins from Thursday. Vidarbha, with five wins and a draw, are unstoppable, demolishing anything and everything which is coming their way. If they concede the lead in the first innings, the Akshay Wadkar-led side has it made it a point to bat 200 per cent better in the second essay and bury the opponents under the mountain of runs. This, they have done twice this season, first against Andhra in their season opener and a few days back against Rajasthan, to emerge victors. Come Thursday, Vidarbha will walk into the field with their heads held high and shoulders strong enough to carry the expectations of fans and take on fourth placed Hyderabad in their Group B encounter at VCA Civil Lines ground.
 
The presence of India pacer Mohd Siraj, who will be manning the bowling department of the visting team, will not affect the defending champions. The batters know how to tackle the premier pacer of the country. “We are prepared for each and every player not only Siraj. Our batters know how to handle pacers as well as spinners. We are not targetting any single player from the opponent side,” Wadkar told ‘The Hitavada’. The pitch will help the batters initially and will assist the spinners as the game progresses. “We are in late January. The pitch will help the batters early on but will assist the spinners as there is less grass on it,” said Wadkar after the day’s nets session. Vidarbha top order has been firing in unison. To add to it, professional Karun Nair is in sublime form since his heroics in just concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy. The home time will definitely want the former Karnataka player to bat in same vein. “We want our top five batters to score big runs, not only Karun.
 
We all know he is scoring the bulk of runs but at the same time, Athrav Taide, Dhruv Shorey, Yash Rathod have also scored runs heavily this season,” said captain Wadkar, who himself has two centuries and a half-century from 10 innings to his name. The bowling department will be spearheaded by pacer Yash Thakur, Nachiket Bhute and Aditya Thakre with tournament’s highest wicket-taker (47) southpaw Harsh Dubey manning the spin department with veteran spinner Akshay Wakhare. Hyderabad will bank on higest run getter this season Tanmay Agrawal who has scored 792 runs from 10 innings with three centuries and two fifties. Vidarbha will aim to see the back of India player Nitish Reddy as early as possible if they fancy any chance to dominate Hyderabad. Skipper Wadkar assured that complecency will not creep in andy there won’t be any dip in intensity when they take the field. “We know we are unbeaten and already qualified for the knock-outs. But we will play with same intensity the way we played our previous matches. We will go all out against Hyderabad,” Wadkar signed off.