By Paritosh Pramanik
NAGPUR, Oct 11, 2026
THEY missed the knock-outs berth last season due to less number of bonus point as Andhra and Jharkhand moved up in the quarter-finals.
That heartbreak would be put to rest forever when the three times Ranji champions Vidarbha face Pondicherry in their opening Elite Group ‘A’ encounter here at Vidarbha Cricket Association’s Jamtha Stadium from Sunday.
Vidarbha will be playing three out of four games at home before the white-ball break and they would aim to go all guns blazing from October 11. The Akshay Wadkar-led side will aim for outright wins starting with Pondicherry. They will then move to Srinagar for their second game against defending champions Jammu and Kashmir (Oct 18-21) and then will return home for their clashes against Goa (Oct 26-29) and Madhya Pradesh (Nov 2-5).
Vidarbha look a well-balanced side with at least five players returning after India ‘A’ duties. All of them would aim to materialise that ‘A’ exposure into substance when they take the field.
The team played Thimmappiah Trophy in Bengaluru last month and fine-tuned their skills.
On the eve of the opener, Vidarbha coach Usman Ghani looked confident of a bright start to the season and said they would aim not to repeat the mistakes they committed last season.
“It’s a fresh beginning. We will try to rectify the mistakes we did last season. During the camp we worked on top-order batting as well as upon the lower order. We want the lower order, specially the bowlers, to contribute with the bat. That we lacked last season,” said Ghani.
“First thing first ... we would go for first innings lead and then see how the game progresses. The ultimate aim is to record outright wins in as many games as possible,” said Ghani.
Vidarbha were tied with Jharkhand and Andhra and missed the bus due to less number of bonus point wins.
“Last season we were at the top of the table for most part of the season. Just one bad game changed the scenario. So, we don’t want that situation this season,” said the Ranji champion coach.
The team got a boost in Harsh Dubey when the India spinner was cleared by the BCCI after recovering from an injury. Dubey was seen going full throttle during the training session on Saturday morning.
This time the team has given extra importance to fielding and same could be seen during the last training session on the eve of their match against Pondicherry. The air-borne attempt for a catch from Aman Mokhade proved the point.
The players’ direct hits on the single stump were perfect so were the catches at the deep.
As for Pondicherry, only Mohit Kale, is aware of Vidarbha’s ‘inside’ secrets.
Kale was part of Vidarbha set-up before he moved to Pondicherry last season.
The game would be played on red-soil pitch and it would be interesting to see who finds place in the playing XI. The spinners are likely to play a huge role in later part of the game.
SQUADS (from)
VIDARBHA: Akshay Wadkar (Captain & WK), Aman Mokhade, Yash Rathod (Vice-Captain), Danish Malewar, Atharva Taide, Satyam Bhoyar, Yash Kadam, Harsh Dubey, Parth Rekhade, Ganesh Bhosale, Shivam Deshmukh (WK), Nachiket Bhute, Praful Hinge, Darshan Nalkande, Rajneesh Gurbani, Dhruv Shorey, R Samarth.
PONDICHERRY: Neyan Shyam Kangayan (C), Ritesh Gutke, Nikhil Gangta, Mohit Kale, Logesh, Thamaraikannan, Prasad Pawar (WK), Sivamurugan, Aman Khan (VC), Sagar Trivedi, Ankit Sharma, Sagar Udeshi, Karan Kannan, Gaurav Yadav, Vijay, Tahir Butt.
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