After a gap of one year finally, the Ranji Trophy will be played this season in six cities including Mumbai (Elite A), Bengaluru (Elite B), Bengaluru (Elite C), Ahmedabad (Elite D), Trivandrum (Elite E) and Chennai (Plate).
As far as two-time champions Vidarbha are concerned then it has been clubbed in Elite B group with last year's runners-up Bengal, Vidarbha, Haryana, Kerala, Tripura and Rajasthan.
Tournament restricting to six cities only means there will be no home advantage to any team including Vidarbha. If one looks into the stats then Vidarbha have won more away matches (8) than home (6) in last three seasons. In the process, they lost two away matches last season and in three seasons total 11 matches ended in a draw in home and away conditions.
However, Vidarbha skipper Faiz Fazal is not much bothered about it. Talking to Lokmat Times from United Kingdom where he is playing country cricket Faiz said, “ Home advantage is there but being a professional I am not much bothered about it. Not just for Vidarbha but there will be no home advantage to any team. We should always try to win away matches to improve our game. As professional players we should play on all kinds of wickets and fortunately for last two, three seasons we are doing well with red ball cricket”, he said.
About group Faiz said, “ The group is good. In a tournament like Ranji Trophy no team is easy. It is good that finally, red ball cricket has returned. We have full two months for practice and I am sure that VCA administration will leave no stone unturned to provide top practice facilities for the team members. As far as I am personally concerned , then I will get extra time for practice as I have already taken retirement from T-20 format of cricket”, he said.
If one looks into Vidarbha's success rate in home and away conditions in last three seasons, then Vidarbha enjoyed more success in away matches.
In the season 2017-2018 when Vidarbha won the maiden Ranji title, they won six away matches including semi-final and final and two matches ended in draw at home.
In next season when Vidarbha retained the trophy,they managed to win just two away matches and won two in home conditions. Two away and two home matches ended in a draw.
The previous season was disastrous for Vidarbha as they failed to qualify for the knockouts. Vidarbha managed to win just two matches and that too in home conditions. They lost two away matches and two away matches ended in a draw whereas one home match also ended in a draw .