Left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey, who played an important role in Vidarbha's dramatic five-wicket victory over Madhya Pradesh in the semi-final of CK Nayudu Trophy at Vadodara on Thursday, said self-belief was the mantra of his as well as team's success.
When the chips are down, the team always needs someone who can deliver and Harsh Dubey was that player.
Even after conceding first-innings lead, Vidarbha staged a spectacular comeback and notched up the victory to enter the final. The credit for it mainly goes to Dubey who not only claimed seven wickets in MP's second innings but also score a crucial half-century (64, 91b, 10x4) in Vidarbha's successful chase of more than 300 runs.
Not just in the semi-final, Dubey has been in tremendous form throughout the tournament. He is on second place among the maximum wicket-takers. In five matches and ten innings, he has taken 34 wickets with an average of 17.97 with four five-wicket hauls. He is just one wicket short of of surpassing current highest wicket taker Ankur Malik (35) of Sikkim.
Talking to Lokmat Times Dubey, who also smashed a century in the quarterfinal against Uttar Pradesh, said, “Even after we were on the backfoot after conceding first innings lead, our coach told us to believe in ourselves. Without doing something different, I was focusing on basics and executing the role which the team management had given me. Finally, it produced some positive results.”
Dubey started his cricketing career under the guidance of childhood coach Dilip Das at the Ruby Club. He is now being coached by former Vidarbha Ranji player Sanjog Binkar at Eleven Star. Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is his idol. “ An idol of any left arm spinner in India is none other than Ravindra Jadeja. I too idolise him to fulfill my dreams,” he said.
After hogging the limelight in Under-25 cricket, Dubey would like to make his debut in Ranji trophy which is the premier domestic tournament in the country. “Now my next target is to make Ranji Trophy debut and for that, I am really working hard,” he said. In the future also, Dubey would like to cement is place in Vidarbha team as not just a left arm spinner but as an all-rounder.
About final to be played against Mumbai from April 24 at Ahmedabad, he said, “We have a couple of days for rest before going into the final. We will deliver our hundred percent to retain the trophy.”