History was made on New Year’s day when Vidarbha won their first-ever Ranji Trophy title. The side from Maharashtra defeated seven-time champions Delhi by nine wickets in Indore.
Fast bowler Rajneesh Gurbani set the tone with figures of 6/59 in the first innings, helping Vidarbha restrict Delhi to 295 runs. The match was in the balance when Vidarbha lost their sixth wicket for 246 runs, but thereafter they took the match away with two big partnerships.
Aditya Sarwate and Akshay Wadkar strung together a 169-run partnership before Siddhesh Neral and Wadkar added another 132 runs, taking Vidarbha’s score to 547 runs.
Delhi only managed to set a target of 29 runs in the fourth inning, which was easily knocked off by Sanjay Ramaswamy and Wasim Jaffer.
Here’s a look at the five players who guided Vidarbha to their first-ever Ranji Trophy title.
1. Faiz Fazal
Vidarbha’s captain Faiz Fazal finished as the second highest scorer this Ranji season with 912 runs. The 32-year-old smashed 5 centuries and recorded an average of 70.15.
The opening batsman scored centuries in three consecutive matches against Chhattisgarh, Services and Bengal in the group stage. The skipper also played a handy innings of 67 runs in the final.
2. Rajneesh Gurbani
Rajneesh Gurbani has been a terrific find for Vidarbha. The fast bowler, who has played only 10 first-class matches in his career, picked up 39 wickets in 6 matches this season.
The 24-year-old engineer picked up a fifer in each of the last four matches of the season.
In the semi-final against Karnataka, Vidarbha was in a spot of bother when they set a target of just 198 runs. However, it was Gurbani who stepped up and took 7 wickets for 68 runs, helping Vidarbha seal the match by 5 runs.
3. Sanjay Ramaswamy
Fazal’s opening partner Ramaswamy was in tremendous form during the group stages. He scored centuries against Punjab, Bengal and Himachal Pradesh and recorded fifty-plus scores in four consecutive matches against Services, Bengal, Goa and Himachal Pradesh.
Even though he lost his touch during the knockout stages, Ramaswamy finished as the third highest scorer in the season with 775 runs.
4. Akshay Wakhare
Akshay Wakhare started the season with a bundle of wickets in the first four matches. The off-spinner picked up 27 wickets against Punjab, Services, Bengal and Goa collectively.
After the match against Goa, the 32-year-old went through three matches with low-key performances before rising again in the final. Wakhare picked up the most wickets for his team in the second innings. The spinner’s figures of 4/95 helped Vidarbha restrict Delhi’s lead to a mere 28 runs.
5. Wasim Jaffer
Wasim Jaffer, the highest scorer in the history of Ranji Trophy, made his way to another title, this time with the Vidarbha team. The former Mumbai batsman scored 595 runs in 13 innings at an average of 54.09.
Jaffer notched his highest score of the season against Goa. The number three batsman scored 158* runs off 369 balls.
In the final, Jaffer handled a tumultuous situation for his team. The 39-year-old walked into bat at 96/1. During his steady innings of 78 runs (150 balls), the right-hand batsman kept losing partners at the other end. As the batsmen at number 4, 5 and 6 fell cheaply, Jaffer took the team to 246/6.
Jaffer maintained his record of winning all Ranji Trophy finals (9) he has featured in.
(Breathe In, Breathe Out: Are you finding it tough to breathe polluted air? Join hands with FIT in partnership with #MyRightToBreathe to find a solution to pollution. Send in your suggestions to fit@thequint.com or WhatsApp @ +919999008335)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)