Nagpur
Confident over back-to-back victories Vidarbha will take on defending champions Saurashtra in elite group 'A' Ranji Trophy match beginning at Vidarbha Cricket Association's Civil Lines Stadium on Friday.
In group 'A' Vidarbha are on top with 13 points followed by Maharashtra (10) and Haryana (7). Saurashtra have just three points to their credit in two matches. They lost the previous match to Haryana by four wickets and secured first innings lead over Jharkhand in the tournament opener. On the other hand, Akshay Wadkar-led Vidarbha first defeated services by seven wickets and then thrashed Manipur by an innings and 90 runs. Vidarbha would like to take the home advantage. Right arm pacer Aditya Thakare who so far has claimed 13 wickets in two matches and left-arm spinner Aditya Sarvate played an important role in the first two matches. They got good support from Indian speedster Umesh Yadav. The selectors have included swashbuckling wicket-keeper batter Jitesh Sharma who just played the three-match T-20 series against Afghanistan and opening left-handed batter Atharva Taide who missed the first two matches due to injury. At the same time the selectors left out former captain and opener Faiz Fazal as he is nursing a knee injury. Among the batters, Sanjay Ramaswamy, Wadkar delivered their best when the team required. The team management would like some good performances, especially from others including professionals Dhruv Shorey and Karun Nair.
Saurashtra will make all-out efforts to notch an outright victory. They have a lot of hopes from their star batter Cheteshwar Pujara who scripted a new domestic record after recording his 17th double-century in First-Class cricket against Jharkahnd. Against Haryana also he scored 49 and 43 runs in two innings but didn't receive much support from other end. All in all the spectators are set to witness tough battles between former champions Vidarbha and defending champions Saurashtra.
Speaking with media persons Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Unadkart said, " We lost the previous match against Haryana. We will improve out performance and will go for full points in this match".
Teams
Vidarbha:Akshay Wadkar (captain & wk), Aditya Sarvate (vice-captain), R Sanjay, Shubham Dubey, Atharva Taide, Darshan Nalkande, Akshay Wakhare, Harsh Dubey, Yash Thakur, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Yash Rathod, Mohit Kale, Aditya Thakare, Lalit Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Dhruv Shorey and Karun Nair.
Saurashtra: Jaydev Unadkat (C), Cheteshwar Pujara, Sheldon Jackson, Arpit Vasavada, Harvik Desai, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Chirag Jani, Prerak Mankad, Parth Bhut, Vishvarajsinh Jadeja, Yuvrajsinh Dodiya, Devang Karamta, Snell Patel, Kevin Jivrajani and Adityasinh Jadeja.