By Paritosh Pramanik
Feb 1, 2026
DEFENDING champions Vidarbha’s Ranji Trophy sojourn ended prematurely despite their four wickets victory over Uttar Pradesh at VCA Jamtha on Sunday.
With Jharkhand recording a five-wicket victory over Odisha and Andhra playing draw with Nagaland, all three finished their league rounds with 31 points each from Group A.
However, Jharkhand pushed Vidarbha to third spot as they earned three bonus points (for innings wins) as compared to Vidarbha’s one. Their run quotient (1.545) also was superior than that of Vidarbha (1.526).
Andhra, who have two bonus points and best run quotient (1.628) in the group, made it to quarters along with Jharkhand.
Vidarbha opener Aman Mokhade (83) and middle order batter Danish Malewar (54) punished Uttar Pradesh bowlers with disdain as the title holders ended their league outings with four wins, two draws and a loss.
Vidarbha chased down the required runs 22 minutes before lunch break. On the third evening, with Vidarbha four wickets down and needing another 110 runs for an outright win, it looked that hosts would face trouble taking on the UP attack on a tricky track. But with the pitch easing out surprisingly, overnight not out batter Mokhade and Malewar hit boundaries to puncture the rival teams attack.
Malewar, who got a reprieve in the second over of the day when he was dropped on five at slips by Abhishek Goswami, was harsh on UP bowlers. He started with a straight boundary off Shivam Mavi to start his run scoring spree. An over later the right-handed batter stepped out to pick another four off the same bowler.
Mokhade stayed calm for a while and then freed his arms hitting pacer Kartik Tyagi for a beautiful cover drive which crossed the fence in no time.
Later, he picked two fours in same over of left-arm spinner Kartik Yadav. He gently dabbed the ball towards third man fence and then flicked one to fine leg boundary. At the other end, Malewar was in his elements. He adjusted himself on the crease and once executed an elegant backfooot punch towards long-on fence for four.
The two added match winning 82 runs for the fifth wicket before Mokhade was caught behind by Aditya Sharma of off-spinner Shivam Sharma, with Vidarbha needing another 28 runs for win.
Malewar completed his half-century in 55th over with a single. His 77-ball fifty had five boundaries and a six.
But he could not stay till the end as part-timer Dhruv Jurel got a faint edge of his bat for a caught behind wicket. Dubey, who hit a couple of boundaries and a six, and Nachiket Bhute completed the formalities with the latter hitting a six of his first ball.
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We have best bowling line-up in India: Dubey
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Stand-in captain Harsh Dubey said it was a learning experience for him to lead Vidarbha side in all three formats of the game and lauded his bowlers as the best in the country at present.
With first choice captain Akshay Wadkar injured, Dubey was named captain for Syed Mushtaq Ali, Vijay Hazare and last two games of Ranji Trophy.
“It was not challenging but I would say a learning curve for me. It taught me how to take decisions, how to utilise bowlers and specially how and when to bring myself in attack,” said Dubey after Vidarbha’s win over Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.
“I have always said that Vidarbha have the best bowlers in the country in all three formats. We can dismantle any side. Batters win matches for you but it is the bowlers who win tournaments. They proved this by winning Vijay Hazare tournament,” said left-arm spinner Dubey, who was the highest wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy last season.
Dubey admitted the situation would have been diferent had experienced players like Dhruv Shorey, Yash Rathod and Wadkar were available for the game against Andhra. “But I belive that Vidarbha have a good back-up line and those got opportunities have excelled in the age group tournaments so we can’t call them inexperienced. So, I think that might be one of the reasons (not having top three),” Dubey concluded.
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