Vidarbha edged past Saurashtra in the Ranji final to register their second consecutive Ranji triumph. Deserving winners, Vidarbha have been the most dominant side in this year’s competition both with the ball as well as with the bat.
Batsmen as well as bowlers of Vidarbha have complemented each other right through out the season. In matches, where the batsmen missed the mark, the bowlers swooped in to rescue the side, just like in the all-important final, and vice-versa.
A unit which hasn’t changed much since the last season made sure that they prove to the world that their maiden title win wasn’t just a flash in the pan.
Here’s a look at the five Vidarbha cricketers who clinched the deal for their side this Ranji season:
Aditya Sarwate
Left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate shone with the ball for Vidarbha this Ranji season. With a tally of 55 wickets from 11 matches, Aditya is the leading wicket taker for Vidarbha this season. In fact, he has now taken the maximum number of wickets by a Vidarbha bowler in a single Ranji season.
Sarwate has been consistent all throughout the season and his 6 five-wicket hauls are a testimony of that. His best outings came against Karnataka (5/91& 4/24), Railways (3/66 & 6/43), Mumbai (3/86 & 6/48) & Uttarakhand (1/55 & 5/55).
But Sarwate peaked when his side needed him the most. In the final, he picked up 11 wickets, his first 10-wicket haul in a match this season. Saurashtra batsmen had no answer to Sarwate as he finished with 5/98 and 6/59 in the first and the second innings respectively.
Sarwate’s scalps in the final included the prized wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara in both the innings. Pujara, who gave the Aussie bowlers a tough time during India’s successful Test series Down Under, was tamed by Sarwate as he managed scores of 1 and 0 in the final.
What stood out for Sarwate was the way he plotted both the dismissal. In the first innings, he crammed Pujara with a silly-point and a forward short-leg. The Saurashtra batsman ended up giving a catch to Jaffer in the slip. Meanwhile, in the second innings, Pujara was trapped leg before after Sarwate persisted with an attacking field.
If his contribution with the ball wasn’t enough, Sarwate (102) even scored a century in the crucial quarter-final encounter against Uttarakhand.
Wasim Jaffer
It was business as usual for batsman Wasim Jaffer as he finished another successful season with Vidarbha. Since joining the side in 2015-16 season, this is Jaffer’s second Ranji title in as many seasons. With this win, Jaffer has kept his perfect Ranji final record intact. Out of his ten final appearances in Ranji, he has won on all occasions. His first eight trophies came with Mumbai while the rest two came with Vidarbha.
With 1,037 runs from 11 matches, Jaffer was the leading run-scorer for Vidarbha in 2018-19 Ranji season. With four centuries, including one double-hundred, and two half-centuries, Jaffer scored his runs at an average of 69.13.
His first big score came against Baroda in a drawn tie. His 153 at the top of the innings helped Vidarbha post a huge first innings score of 529/6. Jaffer scored big against Gujarat (126) and Mumbai (176), his former side.
Jaffer brought up his highest score of 206 against Uttarakhand in an all-important quarter-final match. Vidarbha won the match comfortably by a margin of an innings and 115 runs.
Whenever Jaffer scored a hundred this season, Vidarbha have gone on to post a score above 400. And for the second time in his record-breaking first-class career, Jaffer has scaled more than 1,000 runs in a Ranji season. The last instance of it was in 2008-09 when he scored 1,260 runs for Mumbai in 10 matches.
Faiz Fazal
Faiz Faizal has led his side from the front with the bat. After topping the batting charts for Vidarbha last season, this time around skipper Fazal just started from where he had left last season.
A century in the first match of the season from the captain set the ball rolling for the defending champions. Vidarbha were bowled out for 120 in their first innings against Maharashtra. With Vidarbha following on, Fazal, along with wicket keeper Akshay Wadkar, played match-saving innings as the side put up 501 to draw the tie.
Fazal was the second highest run getter for his side with 752 runs in 11 matches. A healthy average of around 50 saw Fazal score three centuries and two half-centuries.
After a great start to the season with three centuries in four matches, Fazal saw a quiet period with the bat in the last few matches during group stage and the quarter-final. He came back strongly in the semi-final to score a gritty 75 against Kerala.
Akshay Wadkar
Wicket keeper batsman has been an able support with the bat for both skipper Faiz Fazal and Wasim Jaffer this season.
Everytime Vidarbha scored big, there was run flow from either Wasim Jaffer’s bat or Faiz Fazal’s . But the common factor for Vidarbha in these big scores were Akshay.
In the first match against Maharashtra, he partnered his skipper Faiz Fazal to take them to safety. Fazal went on to score 131 while Akshay was unbeaten on 122. Against Baroda, Akshay made his presence felt with his 102 not out despite centuries from Fazal (151) and Jaffer (153). Vidarbha went on to score 529/6. Akshay (144*) scored another unbeaten century against Chhattisgarh in the very next match. He also scored a 98 against Uttarakhand in the quarter-final while Jaffer brought up his 206.
Akshay played a pivotal role in Vidarbha’s great batting display this season. His centuries lower down the order were crucial as far as Vidarbha’s big totals were concerned.
In eleven matches, Akshay scored 725 runs at an average of 60.41, with three centuries and two half-centuries. He was the third highest run getter for Vidarbha.
Apart from his batting skills, Akshay was involved in 27 dismissals (21 catches and 6 stumpings).
Akshay Wakhare
After Aditya Sarwate, it was off-spinner Akshay Wakhare who did the maximum damage with the ball. Wakhare finished with 35 wickets from his 10 matches. He complemented Sarwate well with his off-spin.
Wakhare picked two five-wicket hauls this season. The first one came against Railways (5/71) while the second one was against Mumbai (5/85). Both the matches ended in Vidarbha’s favour.
But Wahkhare best outing came in the final. It was him along with Akshay who orchestrated Saurashtra’s batting collapse in the both the innings. In the first innings he picked up 4/87 while in the second innings he returned with excellent figures of 3/37.
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