Kungwani, Jajoo hand Bharat Rangers big win

By Paritosh Pramanik

KUNAL Kungwani took first five-wicket haul of the season and then Vedant Jajoo made most of the reprieves he got as Bharat Rangers thrashed India Warriors by seven wickets to consolidate their position at the top with third straight win in the Vidarbha Premier League Season 2 here at VCA’s Jamtha Stadium on Friday.

Kungwani, playing his first match of the tournament, picked timely wickets which helped Bharat Rangers restrict India Warriors at 199.

In return, table toppers Rangers knocked off the runs (202) with seven balls to spare.

It was Jajoo’s day as he got three lives in the chase. He got first reprieve in the seventh over when on 18. Jajoo (87; 46b, 7x4, 7x6) was caught at short cover by Shubham Dubey off Ashit Singh but was called back after third umpire found India Warriors captain-wicketkeeper Akshay Wadkar bringing his gloves in front of stumps when the bowler had started to deliver the ball.

Jajoo added salt to injury hitting Singh to a straight six the very next delivery. The right-handed batter grabbed the opportunity and hit his half century in 23 deliveries.

Jajoo was then dropped by Sahil Sheikh at third man off Rahul Dongarwar when on 72. It was a sitter which Sheikh spilled and the batter heaved a sigh of relief. Sahil dropped the batter again at backward point when on 80. Along with Manan Agrawal (60*; 40b, 4x4, 6x4), they clobbered India Warriors bowlers hitting fours and sixes to stay in total control. Agrawal, after playing second fiddle to Jajoo, freed his arms taking the score near the target with three successive boundaries off Dongarwar in 15th over. He too completed his second straight half century from 34 deliveries. Jajoo and Agrawal added 149 runs for the third wicket to see their team inch closer to the target. Jajoo’s fine innings came to an end when Hinge bowled him in the 17th over but it was too late for a comeback for India Warriors.

Earlier, Kungwani (4-0-40-5) got all the important wickets as he first sent back in-form opener Satyam Bhoyar (23) early in the innings. The bowler then broke the dangerous looking partnership between Shree Chaudhary (23) and Shubham Dubey (25) in the 17th when he trapped the former in front of the wicket. He then got Hinge in the same over and came back again in the 19th to see the back of Dubey who was caught by Agrawal. Kungwani completed his fifer taking the last wicket of Ashit Singh. Warriors promoted Darshan Nalkande (61; 28b, 1x4, 7x6) up the order and the bowling all-rounder showed his batting skills by hitting huge sixes. He had special liking for Ghodmare as he slammed him for five maximums, two in a single over as Warriors raced to 87 for three in 8 overs. They scored 100 runs at halfway mark and an over later Nalkande completed his half century with his first boundary off Shubham Kapse. The 22-ball fifty had six maximums and a boundary. Warriors were going strong when Aditya Sarvate broke the dangerous looking fourth wicket partnership of 56 runs between Nalkande and Abhishek Agrawal.

An over later, Nalkande’s entertaining innings was cut short when he played-on a Varun Bisht’s delivery into his stumps. His 61 runs came from 28 deliveries with seven sixes and a boundary.

Shree Choudhary then took the mettle in his hand and hit two successive sixes of Bisht’s second over. In the next over, he dispatched Kungwani’s delivery straight into Bharat Rangers’ dugout. But Kungwani got him trapped next delivery to end his little cameo.

SCOREBOARD

INDIA WARRIORS INNINGS R B 4 6

V Lande lbw b Sarwate 26 17 0 3

S Bhoyar c Bhute b Kungwani 23 10 2 2

A Wadkar c Malewar b Ghodmare 11 7 2 0

D Nalkande b Bisht 61 28 1 7

A Agrawal b Sarwate 11 15 0 0

S Dubey c Agrawal b Kungwani 25 20 2 1

S Choudhary lbw b Kungwani 23 9 0 3

P Hinge b Kungwani 2 2 0 0

R Dongarwar c Bisht b Kapse 6 6 0 0

A Singh lbw b Kungwani 1 2 0 0

S Sheikh Not Out 0 0 0 0

Extras: (lb 2, b 1, nb 1, wd 6) 10

TOTAL: (All out, 19.1 overs) 199

Fall of wickets: 1-44, 2-57, 3-69, 4-127, 5-138, 6-171, 7-174, 

8-196, 9-199.

Bowling: Sarwate 4-0-36-2, Bhute 2-0-23-0, Kapse 

3.1-0-32-1, Kungwani 4-0-40-5, Ghodmare 2-0-31-1, Taide 

1-0-2-0, Bisht 2-0-27-1, Sasan 1-0-5-0.

BHARAT RANGERS INNINGS R B 4 6

A Taide c Dubey b Hinge 9 10 1 0

D Malewar b Sheikh 25 13 3 2

V Jajoo b Hinge 87 46 7 7

M Agrawal Not Out 60 40 4 4

J Sasan Not Out 7 5 1 0

Extras: (w 7, b 6, nb 1) 14

TOTAL: (3 wickets, 18.5 overs) 202

Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-37, 3-186.

Bowling: Hinge 3.5-0-28-2, Dongarwar 3-0-40-0, Sheikh 

4-0-46-1, Nalkande 2-0-26-0, Singh 2-0-22-0, Sodhi 4-0-34-0.

First win for Orange Tigers

Neco Master Blaster slump to third straight defeat

By Paritosh Pramanik

ORANGE Tigers bowlers bowled with purpose to curb Neco Master Blaster batters as they eked out their first win of the season with a 54 runs victory in the Vidarbha Premier League Season 2 here at VCA’s Jamtha Stadium on Friday.

Orange Tigers first posted a challenging 180-9 in 20 overs, thanks to half centuries from Mandar Mahale and Vishesh Tiwari. The bowlers, led by Saurabh Dubey (3-24) and Shreyas Padole (3-29), then did not give room to Neco Master Blaster bundling them out at 126 in 18.4 overs.

Defending champions Neco Master Blaster’s plan to take the game deep backfired as they could not maintain the required run rate. This helped Orange Tigers bowlers take control of the match. They bowled a decent line and did not give Blaster’s space to free their arms.

Spinner Padole broke Master Blaster’s middle order taking three wickets. He first sent Vedant Dighade (26) into the pavilion and then got Shantanu Rajput (9) and Tushar Kadu (36) in the same over to put pressure on Neco captain Jitesh Sharma (10). But he too perished under the pressure of a huge target. His wicket in the 16th over spell doom as Neco Master Blaster suffered their third successive defeat. Aditya Thakare, who went unsold in the auction and was picked as a replacement, took two 

wickets.

Earlier, Neco Master Blaster pacer Dipesh Parwani took four wickets but Orange Tigers’ Mahale and Tiwari hit responsible fifties to score 180-9. At one stage, Orange Tigers were in deep trouble with 124 for 9 in 16 overs. 

But Tiwari justified his price tag of Rs 7 lakh hitting 37-ball unbeaten 60 runs to take their side post a competitive total. Tiwari and Aditya Thakare added 56 runs for the last wicket in which the latter’s contribution was only five runs. Tiwari hit six boundaries and four sixes in his unbeaten innings.

The other batter who showed discipline in the middle was Mandar Mahale who hit 50 at top of the order. Kshitiz Dahiya managed 22-ball 29. Orange Tigers scored 56 runs in the last four overs which helped them reach 180.

Neco Master Blaster’s Parwani struck timely blows to deny Orange Tigers any space to score freely. He would have got the first fifer of the season but over-stepped when he got Tiwari in the 18th over.

Though Orange Tigers scored 60 in powerplay, they also lost three top order batters. Their start was not a slam-bang one. It was a sedate beginning. A six came in every over from the start but at the same time Neco Master Blaster bowlers succeeded in taking wickets.

When Rohit Binkar (7) tried to pace up the innings, Parwani (4-0-40-4) got him caught at deep extra over by Adhyayan Daga. Next over Ananmay Jayaswal got captain Yash Rathod (1) caught behind by wicketkeeper Vedant Dighade. 

There was more trouble for Orange Tigers as they lost Dhruv Shorey (10) inside poweplay.

Orange Tigers scored 88 runs at the halfway mark. But Mahale lost concentration immediately after scoring his fifty as he gave a simple catch to Abhishek Gupta at point region. 

But Tiwari made sure they post a huge total and his unbeaten 60 fetched him the man of the match award.

SCOREBOARD

ORANGE TIGERS INNINGS R B 4 6

M Mahale c Gupta b Durugkar 50 36 3 3

R Binkar c Daga b Parwani 7 4 1 0

Y Rathod c Dighode b Jayaswal 1 2 0 0

D Shorey c Chandekar b Parwani 10 11 0 1

K Dahiya c Sharma b Dhoble 29 22 2 1

V Tiwari Not Out 60 37 6 4

S Padole c Parwani b Dhoble 6 2 0 1

A Dullarwar c Manish b Dhoble 0 2 0 0

A Karnewar c Dhoble b Parwani 0 2 0 0

H Varma c Sharma b Parwani 4 3 1 0

A Thakare Not Out 5 3 1 0

Extras: (w 4, nb4) 8

TOTAL: (9 wickets, 20 overs) 180

Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-25, 3-50, 4-92, 5-113, 6-119, 7-119, 

8-120, 9-124.

Bowling: Jayaswal 4-0-32-1, Parwani 4-0-40-4, Durugkar 

4-0-30-1, Gupta 4-0-33-0, Dhoble 4-0-45-3.

NECO MASTER BLASTER INNINGS R B 4 6

A Meshram c Varma b Dubey 15 14 3 0

A Daga c Mahale b Thakare 1 4 0 0

T Kadu c Mahale b Padole 36 28 3 1

V Dighade lbw b Padole 26 21 2 1

S Rajput c Rathod b Padole 9 13 1 0

J Sharma c Dullarwar b Dubey 10 7 0 1

V Chandekar c Varma b Thakare 12 13 2 0

G Dhoble Not Out 4 4 0 0

D Parwani c Rathod b Dubey 1 3 0 0

A Gupta c Rathod b Dahiya 1 3 0 0

A Jayaswal c Binkar b Dahiya 0 2 0 0

Extras: (b 1, w 9, lb 1) 11

TOTAL: ( All out, 18.4 overs) 126

Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-18, 3-71, 4-96, 5-97, 6-111, 7-119, 

8-122, 9-125.

Bowling: Dubey 4-0-24-3, Mahale 1-0-5-0, Thakare 4-0-29-2, 

Dahiya 3.4-0-28-2, Padole 4-0-29-3, Varma 2-0-9-0. 

Umesh, Tejas shine in Heroz win over Pagariya

 

VETERAN Umesh Yadav and Tejas Soni were the wreckers in chief as they both snared three wickets each in their four overs as Nagpur Heroz inflicted the first defeat of the season to Pagariya Strikers by 34 runs in their Vidarbha Premier League match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association’s Jamtha International Stadium, on Thursday. 

This was Heroz’s second win in the season. Opener Faiz Sheikh was the only Pagariya batter to handle the fort, he smashed 76 runs off 47 deliveries he faced, it included seven boundaries and six sixes. Faiz was bowled by Soni in the 17th over.

Earlier, Pagariya Strikers’ Sanskar Chavate bowled a sensational opening spell to push Nagpur Heroz on the backfoot initially but they still managed to post a challenging 219-8. The right-handed pacer took three wickets in his two overs to rattle Heroz’s top order. 

However, Pagariya Strikers lost the plot from there on as Siddhant Muley (57) and Kartik Rathod (66) added a counter-attacking 120 runs for the fifth wicket and then hard-hitter Apoorv Wankhade slammed a 20-ball 60 to take their total past 200-run mark.

Apart from Chavate, last match’s hero Lalit Yadav, too, made an immediate impact taking the wicket of Parth Rekhade as Strikers reached 32-4 in four overs. Muley and Rathod did the repair job for Nagpur Heroz from there on with an important partnership for the fifth wicket.

Rathod played a counter-attacking game hitting Swapnil Singh for a couple of sixes and a boundary.

He completed his half century from 28 deliveries which had four boundaries and three sixes.

Muley gave him company and took pressure off him hitting occasional sixes as the innings looked to slipping away from Strikers’ grip. He completed his 50 with a huge six off R Sanjay pulling the delivery towards mid-wicket fence.

Wankhade, the costliest buy of the season, the unleashed his brute power hitting eight sixes and a boundary to make the contest an exciting one.

SCOREBOARD

NAGPUR HEROZ INNINGS R B 4 6

P Rekhade c Deshmukh b Yadav 2 5 0 0

A Mokhade c Rai b Chawate 8 4 1 0

I Bhamra c Deshmukh b Chawate 0 1 0 0

S Wath b Chawate 9 9 1 0

S Muley c Kadam b Gujar 57 32 1 5

K Rathod b Chawate b Kadam 66 37 4 5

A Wankhede Not Out 60 20 1 8

A Kombe c Yadav b Salve 0 5 0 0

T Soni c Ahuja b Chawate 3 5 0 0

R Gurbani Not Out 5 3 1 0

Extras: (w 7, lb 1, nb 1) 9

TOTAL: (8 wickets, 20 overs) 219

Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-16, 3-22, 4-29, 5-148, 6-159, 7-158, 

8-186.

Bowling: Yadav 4-0-62-1, Chawate 3-0-27-4, Kadam 3-0-24-1, 

Singh 1-0-18-0, Salve 2-0-18-1, Ramaswamy 3-0-32-0, 

Gujar 4-0-37-1.

PAGARIYA STRIKERS INNINGS R B 4 6

S Ramaswamy c Bhamra b Yadav 8 7 1 0

F Sheikh b Soni 76 47 7 4

R Samarth c Mokhade b Soni 19 9 4 0

A Ahuja c Wankhade b Soni 0 1 0 0

Y Kadam c Wath b Muley 14 12 0 1

P Gujar retired hurt 36 23 4 1

S Deshmukh c Muley b Gurbani 4 4 1 0

L Yadav c Gurbani b Yadav 6 5 1 0

S Rai Not Out 12 9 1 1

S Chawate c Soni b Yadav 2 2 0 0

S Singh Not Out 0 2 0 0

Extras : (b 2, nb 1, lb 1, w 6) 10

TOTAL: (9 wickets , 20 overs) 185

Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-53, 3-53, 4-77, 5-105, 6-165, 7-169, 

8-175, 9-179.

Bowling: Gurbani 4-0-41-1, Jolly 3-0-30-0, Yadav 4-1-25-3, 

Soni 4-0-35-3, Muley 3-0-24-1, Rekhade 2-0-27-0.

Kapse snares four as Bharat Rangers record win

Rangers thrash Neco Master Blaster by 10 wickets

By Paritosh Pramanik

BHARAT Rangers’ ‘Speed Merchants’ Shubham Kapse and Nachiket Bhute bowled with vengeance under scorching heat to flatten defending champions Neco Master Blaster in a fiery opening spell of four overs.

They shared six wickets between them as Bharat Rangers registered their second win of the tournament.

For Neco Master Blaster, this was their second defeat in a row after their opening game loss to Pagariya Strikers.

Title holders Neco Master Blaster could not withstand the early shock from Kapse and Bhute as they could muster only 123-9 after being asked to bat first. The meagre runs were chased down easily by Bharat Rangers in 11.5 overs and 10 wickets in hand. Captain Atharva Taide (62*) and Danish Malewar (51*) showed how to bat on the flat pitch as they walked off the field undefeated with two points in their bag.

Taide hit pacer Sanmesh Deshmukh for four boundaries in an over to dominate the proceedings. The two then rotated the strike and frustrated Neco Master Blaster bowlers picking runs through gaps.

Bharat Rangers raced to 50 in 4.4 overs with Taide doing the bulk of the scoring (31 runs) and then knocked off half of the required runs in powerplay. The captain completed his half-century in the 8th over with a couple off Gaurav Dhoble. Malewar then freed his arms and wanted to end the match in a hurry as he hit Shantanu Rajput for a couple of sixes and a boundary in the 10th over, all towards long-on fence. He, too, completed his 50 with a single off Dhoble pushing the ball towards long-on.

With 200 plus runs coming in each match since the start of the tournament, Bharat Rangers skipper Taide said at the toss that bowlers will have to bowl well if they need to win the match. And his bowlers answered their captain’s call with a stupendous effort. The duo of Kapse (4-0-24-4) and Bhute (4-1-12-2) shaped the ball enough to find edges of Master Blaster openers Vedant Dighade (6) and Adhyayan Daga (0) as wicketkeeper Vedant Jajoo pouched catches brilliantly.

Dighade, who was later substituted by Dhoble, was the first to go on the fourth delivery of the innings after he poked his bat to a straight delivery.

Next over Daga too perished to a brilliant diving catch by Jajoo off Bhute and then Bhute caught Tushar Kadu off Kapse for a three-ball duck.

The Bhute-Kapse show entertained all as they took catches on each other’s bowling. Rangers then got the big fish in Neco Master Blaster captain Jitesh Sharma, who was playing his first game after skipping the opener. Sharma slashed a Bhute delivery towards deep third man into the hands of Kapse adding only four runs.

Neco Master Blaster could manage just 26 runs for four wickets in powerplay and then crawled to 54 for five in 12 overs. By the end of 15th over they could reach 68-6 losing another wicket in Aryan Meshram who scored run-a-ball 38 runs.

The Jitesh Sharma-led side could manage to cross the 100-run mark thanks to some wayward bowling by Manan Agrawal who conceded 34 runs in one over which included four sixes slammed by Vaibhav Chandekar, and six wide deliveries.

Master Blaster will have to arrest their slide if they want to stay in contention for the play-offs.

SCOREBOARD

NECO MASTER BLASTER INNINGS R B 4 6

V Dighe c Jajoo b Kapse 6 4 0 1

A Daga c Jajoo b Bhute 0 1 0 0

T Kadu c Bhute b Kapse 0 3 0 0

A Meshram c Taide b Ghodmare 38 38 4 1

J Sharma c Kapse b Bhute 4 6 1 0

G Dhoble c&b Sarwate 11 25 1 0

V Chandekar c Ghodmare b Kapse 36 25 0 4

S Rajput c Sarwate b Ghodmare 2 7 0 0

S Deshmukh Not Out 11 10 0 1

D Parwani b Kapse 1 2 0 0

Extras: (w 11, lb 2, nb 1) 14

TOTAL:(9 wickets, 20 overs) 123

Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-3, 3-7, 4-12, 5-24, 6-67, 7-71, 8-119, 9-123.

Bowling: Kapse 4-0-24-4, Bhute 4-1-12-2, Bhagwat 1.3-0-6-0, Sarwate 4-0-21-1, Bisht 2.3-0-11-0, Ghodmare 3-0-13-2, Agrawal 1-0-34-0.

BHARAT RANGERS INNINGS R B 4 6

A Taide Not Out 62 39 65 9

D Malewar Not Out 51 33 65 5

Extras: (w 10, nb 1) 11

TOTAL: (No loss, 11.5 overs) 124

Bowling: Jayaswal 3-0-31-0, Deshmukh 1-0-22-0, Gupta 2-0-19-0, Parwani 2-0-10-0, Daga 1-0-9-0, Dhoble 1.5-0-11-0, Rajput 1-0-22-0.

All-round Yadav shines

Pagariya Strikers beat India Warriors by three wickets

Special Correspondent

PACE bowler Lalit Yadav, after taking three first innings wickets, slammed three sixes off the last over bowled by Darshan Nalkande as Pagariya Strikers chased down the 214-run target put up by India Warriors with three wickets in hand and a ball to spare in the ongoing Vidarbha Premier League at VCA’s Jamtha International Stadium on Wednesday.

Needing 19 from the last over, Pagariya lost the wicket of Pushpak Gujar to the first ball. Yadav walked in calmly and picked a single and then Shivam Deshmukh (47*) gave strike back to Yadav who hit his first six towards deep point. Nalkande bowled the next delivery wide and then over-pitched the ball which Yadav sent it over mid-wicket ropes. Needing four from the last delivery, which turned out to be a no-ball, Yadav hammered it over the long-off fence to hand his side their second win in a row and go top of the table.

The chase was in total control of Pagariya Strikers with Ravikumar Samarth, who scored season’s first century, hitting a fine 59. Deshmukh played brilliantly and with Pushpak Gujar (37), they added 75 runs from 36 deliveries. In the end it was Yadav’s four-ball 19 which sealed the deal for Strikers.

Earlier, Satyam Bhoyar slammed his second half century of the tournament while Akshay Wadkar and Shubham Dubey chipped in with valuable runs as India Warriors posted another 200-plus runs.

Asked to bat first, Warriors scored 214-8 in 20 overs. Opening the batting Bhoyar slammed 58 runs from 21 balls after Vaibhav Lande failed with the bat. Bhoyar’s knock had four boundaries and five maximums.

Skipper Wadkar threw his bat hitting a couple of fours and as many sixes to score 21-ball 35. Dubey, who had scored 74 runs in their previous game against Nagpur Heroz, slammed 43 from 22 deliveries with three maximums and three boundaries.

Abhishek Agrawal, who scored 63 from 19 balls in their last game, continued his fine batting with another quickfire 21 from 15 deliveries while Darshan Nalkande hit 5-ball 14 as Warriors crossed 200-run mark.

Spinner Kaustubh Salve and Lalit Yadav took three wickets each for Pagariya Strikers while captain Kadam took two. 

INDIA WARRIORS INNINGS R B 4 6

V Lande c Chawate b Salve 5 5 1 0

S Bhoyar c Sanjay b Salve 58 21 4 5

S Sheikh c Samarth b Salve 12 9 2 0

A Wadkar c&b Kadam 35 21 2 2

K Nagar c Gujar b Kadam 19 20 2 0

S Dubey c Sanjay b Yadav 43 22 3 3

A Agrawal c Gujar b Yadav 21 15 1 1

D Nalkande c Gujar b Yadav 14 5 0 2

S Choudhary Not Out 2 2 0 0

Extras: (wd 5) 5

TOTAL: (8 wickets, 20 overs) 214

Fall of wickets: 6-1, 68-2, 83-3, 125-4, 134-5, 171-6, 205-7, 214-8.

Bowling: Salve 3-0-32-3, Yadav 4-0-52-3, Chawate 3-0-53-0, Rai 1-0-9-0, Kadam 4-0-23-2, Singh 1-0-10-0-1, Gujar 2-0-18-0, Sanjay 2-0-17-0.

PAGARIYA STRIKERS INNINGS R B 4 6

R Sanjay c Dubey b Hinge 19 8 0 3

F Sheikh c Dubey b Nalkande 0 4 0 0

R Samarth c&b Sodhi 59 31 9 2

Y Kadam c Agrawal b Choudhary 13 14 1 0

A Ahuja c Nalkande b Sheikh 7 9 1 0

S Deshmukh Not Out 47 21 1 5

S Rai c Wadkar b Sodhi 9 7 1 0

P Gujar c Agrawal b Nalkande 37 22 4 1

L Yadav Not Out 19 4 0 3

Extras: (lb 3, wd 4, nb 1) 8

TOTAL: (7 wickets, 19.5 overs) 218

Fall of wickets: 19-1, 25-2, 92-3, 100-4, 102-5, 121-6, 196-7.

Bowling: Nalkande 3.5-0-42-2, Hinge 4-0-56-1, Dongarwar 3-0-40-0, Nagar 1-0-12-0, Choudhary 3-0-26-1, Sodhi 4-0-29-2, Sheikh 1-0-10-1.

Nagpur Heroz beat Orange Tigers for first win

By Paritosh Pramanik

A BELOW-PAR performance from the batters saw Orange Tigers slump to their second successive defeat as they went down to Nagpur Heroz in the Vidarbha Premier League match at VCA’s Jamtha International Stadium on Wednesday evening.

Chasing the 217 runs target, Orange Tigers could manage 207-8 in 20 overs to stay at the bottom of the table with a 10-run loss. As for Nagpur Heroz, it was their first win after their six-wicket hiding to Bharat Rangers on Tuesday.

Orange Tigers’ batting never took off. They managed to score 61 for the loss of Dhruv Shorey in powerplay but in the next four overs they lost four wickets scoring only 21 runs to remain under the pump.

Instead of playing around the ground, Orange Tigers batters preferred going for aerial routes and ended up in giving easy catches near boundary ropes.

Nagpur Heroz’s Siddhant Muley bowled well for his three wickets. After sending back opener Mandar Mahale trapped in front, he bowled a slower one to get Kshitiz Dahiya the very next delivery. Tigers always played the chasing game. 

For a moment Padole (54) brought some life scoring 27 runs from Muley’s third over as they reached 125 from 13 overs. However, in the next over, Tejas Soni sent back an uncomfortable looking Orange Tigers captain Yash Rathod caught by Apoorv Wankhade for 14-ball 16. Padole, meanwhile, continued to entertain the sparse crowd hitting Umesh Yadav for two sixes and a four in the next over as he completed his half century in 15 deliveries. But his fine innings ended when he top-edged Yadav to give a simple catch to Muley. Vishesh Tiwari (17) and Akshay Karnewar (41*) delayed the inevitable but Nagpur Heroz made sure they returned home with two points.

Earlier, Nagpur Heroz’s captain Aman Mokhade bulldozed Orange Tigers bowlers with a flurry of sixes to hit a classy 85 from 27 balls as they scored 217-7 in 20 overs. Heroz slumped in the middle but Apoorv Wankhade (28) and Kartik Rathod (37) steadied the ship in the as they managed to reach a decent total on a flat track.

With eight boundaries and as many sixes, Mokhade tore Orange Tigers bowlers apart. He picked 26 from one Aditya Thakare over and then slammed Atharva Podutwar for 23 runs as Heroz raced to 89 from powerplay. They crossed the 100-run mark in the seventh over. But Orange Tigers bowlers kept their cool and waited for the batter to make a mistake. Captain Yash Rathod introduced spinner Padole and the bowler made an immediate impact getting the wicket of Mokhade caught at long-on boundary.

His fall pumped up Orange Tigers as they snared three more wickets to dominate the game for a while. From 106-1 in 7.1 overs, Nagpur Heroz tumbled to 124 for four after 10 overs.

Mandar Mahale mixed his deliveries taking the wickets of Parth Rekhade (28) and Akash Kombe (2) to ignite Nagpur Heroz’s fall. 

Padole then spun his web taking the wicket of Iknoor Singh Bhamra as they took the strategic break in total control.

For more than six overs, Nagpur Heroz failed to find a boundary as Tigers bowlers tightened their grip.

Orange Tigers had two ambidextrous bowlers in Akshay Karnewar and Padole who used both their arms to bowl. Padole registered an excellent figures of 4-0-29-2 while Karnewar went wicket-less for 32 from his two overs.

Nagpur Heroz’s hard-hitting batter and costliest buy of the season Wankhade steadied their innings and along with Rathod they added 42 runs for the sixth wicket before Thakare got the latter on 28 in the 18th over. But the total was enough for them to see the result fall in their favour.

SCOREBOARD

NAGPUR HEROZ INNINGS R B 4 6

P Rekhade c Dahiya b Mahale 28 21 4 1

A Mokhade c Shorey b Padole 85 27 8 8

S Wath c Dubey b Thakare 3 5 0 0

A Kombe c Dahiya b Mahale 2 5 0 0

K Rathod c Dullarwar b Podutwar 37 29 2 2

I Bhamra b Padole 7 9 0 0

A Wankhade c Binkar b Thakare 28 15 0 3

T Soni Not Out 12 6 0 1

R Gurbani Not Out 3 4 0 0

Extras: (wd 8, b 1, lb 2, nb 1) 12

TOTAL: (7 wickets, 20 overs) 217

Fall of wickets: 1-106, 2-121, 3-123, 4-124, 5-139, 6-181, 

7-207.

Bowling: Dubey 4-0-37-0, Thakare 4-0-45-2, Podutwar 

3-0-48-1, Karnewar 2-0-32-0, Dullarwar 1-0-16-0, Padole 

4-0-29-2, Mahale 2-0-7-2.

ORANGE TIGERS INNINGS R B 4 6

M Mahale lbw b Muley 31 22 5 0

D Shorey c Bhamra b Yadav 5 7 1 0

R Binkar c Bhamra b Rekhade 30 19 3 2

Y Rathod c Wankhade b Soni 16 14 1 0

K Dahiya c Mokhade b Muley 0 1 0 0

A Dullarwar c Soni b Muley 4 5 0 0

S Padole c Muley b Yadav 54 18 3 6

A Karnewar Not Out 41 19 1 5

V Tiwari lbw b Soni 17 11 2 1

A Podutwar Not Out 1 4 0 0

Extras: (lb 2, wd 5, b 1) 8

TOTAL: (8 wickets, 20 overs) 207

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-71, 3-73, 4-73, 5-83, 6-129, 7-149, 

8-188.

Bowling: Gurbani 4-0-48-0, Yadav 4-0-32-2, Soni 4-0-41-2, 

Jolly 2-0-24-0, Rekhade 3-0-23-1, Muley 3-0-36-3.

Dubey, Agrawal guide India Warriors to win

By Paritosh Pramanik

INDIA Warriors rode on their solid batting performance as they defeated Nagpur Heroz in what was the opening encounter for both the sides on second day of Vidarbha Premier League Season 2 at Jamtha International Stadium on Tuesday.

Half centuries from Satyam Bhoyar (56), Shubham Dubey (74*) and brutal hitting from Abhishek Agrawal (63 from 19 deliveries) saw India Warriors post 261-5 in 20 overs.

In return, Nagpur Heroz were restricted at 228-8 as they lost the match by 33 runs. Siddhesh Wath top scored for Heroz with a 33-ball 78 runs.

It was a late surge from India Warriors who scored 89 runs from the last five overs as they posted the highest total of the tournament.

Agrawal picked 24 runs from Rajneesh Gurbani’s last over as he hit four boundaries and a six in the last six balls.

Dubey used all his Rajasthan Royals experience hitting boundaries and sixes to keep the scoreboard ticking. His unbeaten knock from 33 balls had four boundaries and seven sixes.

At the top, Warriors’ Vaibhav Lande slammed India international Umesh Yadav a boundary and two huge sixes to start their proceedings. Bhoyar scored a 23-ball 56 collecting four boundaries and five sixes.

After losing Sahil Sheikh (14) and Ashit Singh (0), captain Akshay Wadkar scored 24-ball 29 before being caught by Tejas Soni off Rajveer Jolly.

Dubey and Agrawal then stitched an unbeaten 97 runs sixth wicket partnership which came from just 32 deliveries to help their side put up a huge total.

Nagpur Heroz got the start they wanted but their batters were unable to spend time in the middle. They scored 84 runs in the powerplay but lost three wickets which troubled them the most. By the end of 10th over they were 112-5.

Captain Aman Mokhade scored 14-ball 42. Apoorv Wankhade, the costliest player of the tournament, was surprisingly sent too low down the order. He could muster only 12 runs from 15 deliveries. Wath carried their hopes with eight fours and five sixes but his fall in the 14th over made it difficult for the Mokhade-led side.

For the winners, Sunrisers Hyderabad bowler Praful Hinge, Darshan Nalkande, Rahul Dongarwar and Gurdeepsingh Sodhi took two wickets each.

SCOREBOARD

INDIA WARRIORS INNINGS R B 4 6

V Lande c Wath b Yadav 16 5 1 2

S Bhoyar c Rekhade b Tammiwar 56 23 4 5

S Sheikh c Rathod b Gurbani 14 14 3 0

A Singh b Soni 0 3 0 0

A Wadkar c Soni b Jolly 29 24 2 1

S Dubey Not Out 74 33 4 7

A Agrawal Not Out 63 19 6 5

Extras: (w 7, lb 1, nb 1) 9

TOTAL: (5 wickets, 20 overs) 261

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-35, 3-43, 4-99, 5-164.

Bowling: Yadav 3-0-41-1, Gurbani 4-0-52-1, Soni 4-0-50-1, 

Rekhade 3-0-37-0, Jolly 3-0-37-1, Tammiwar 3-0-43-1.

NAGPUR HEROZ INNINGS R B 4 6

P Rekhade c Bhoyar b Hinge 19 9 1 2

A Mokhade b Nalkande 42 14 3 4

S Wath c Sheikh b Nalkande 78 33 8 5

K Rathod c Nagar b Dongarwar 3 4 0 0

R Jolly c Wadkar b Sodhi 4 10 1 0

A Kombe b Sodhi 8 6 0 1

A Wankhade c Choudhary b Dongarwar 12 15 0 0

T Soni c Agrawal b Hinge 22 15 0 2

R Gurbani Not Out 19 9 2 1

I Bhamra Not Out 8 5 1 0

Extras: (w 12, lb 1) 13

TOTAL: (8 wickets, 20 overs) 228

Fall of wickets: 1-41, 2-81, 3-84, 4-90, 5-112, 6-165, 7-188, 

8-207.

Bowling: Hinge 4-0-47-2, Nalkande 4-0-70-2, Dongarwar 

4-0-36-2, Nagar 4-0-52-0, Sodhi 4-0-22-2.

Jajoo slams ton as Bharat Rangers record easy win

By Paritosh Pramanik

BHARAT Rangers made mockery of the humongous 236 runs target put up by Orange Tigers as they cantered home to a six-wicket win in their opening match of Vidarbha Premier League T20 Cricket Tournament at VCA’s Jamtha International Stadium on Tuesday evening.

The chase looked easy because of the thunderous batting from Vedant Jajoo (113; 46b, 11x4, 8x6) who lit up the Jamtha sky with flurry of sixes and fours as he slammed tournament’s second century after R Samarth’s heroics a day earlier.

Manan Agrawal too played brilliant all-rounder’s knock to see his side through.

Coming in at No 3 after both Bharat Rangers batters Atharva Taide (13) and Danish Malewar (22) returned to pavilion, Jajoo spared none as he clobbered Orange Tigers bowlers to all parts of the field. Pacers Saurabh Dubey (0-45) and Aditya Thakare (4-54) were treated with disdain.

Jajoo and Manan Agrawal (52) added a match-winning third wicket partnership of 143 runs in 62 deliveries to take the fizz out of the match.

Rangers crossed the 50-run mark in 3.3 overs and then raced to 92 for two in powerplay. In the next four overs the score reached 152 for two as the two batters continued their six-hitting spree.

Manan Agrawal’s innings needs special praise as he gave the right support to Jajoo which blew away Orange Tigers’ hopes.

Varun Bisht (12*) and Jagjot Sasan (13) completed the formalities with 17 deliveries to spare.

Earlier, Rohit Binkar and Akshay Agarwal slammed a half century each while Akshay Karnewar scored an excellent 42 to bail out Orange Tigers from a precarious position. From 11 for four in the third over, the duo played sensible knocks to help Tigers post a challenging total of 235-8.

Bharat Rangers bowled well in the first half restricting Orange Tigers at 79 for four in 10 overs. But Binkar and Agarwal unleashed fours and sixes as they turned the heat back on their opponents. By the end of 15th over, Tigers were 160-6.

Binkar took the mettle in his hands and scored 36-ball 53 (3x4, 4x6) which eased the pressure on Tigers. After his departure, Akshay Agarwal showed his batting prowess with 57 from 33 deliveries which contained five fours and four maximums. Both the batters fell to Manan Agrawal, who despite taking the wickets, leaked runs (2-56). Akshay Karnewar then played a cameo to score 42 from 19.

It was maniac three overs from Bharat Rangers’ Nachiket Bhute and Sanyog Bhagwat which buried Orange Tigers under a mountain of pressure.

Bhute generated enough pace and movement to stun Orange Tigers’ opener Mandar Mahale for a first ball duck. A delivery later, Dhruv Shorey slashed one towards third man and the ball landed in safe hands of Hrushikesh Pawar. Captain Yash Rathod gave a simple catch to Varun Bisht at covers off Bhagawat as Tigers’ top order crumbled. They got another blow in the wicket of Kshitiz Dahiya who was caught at slips to a debatable catch by Danish Malewar. It looked as if Malewar grassed the ball but the third umpire thought otherwise. The Tigers crawled to 30-4 in powerplay.

Rohit Binkar and Akshay Agarwal then steadied the rocking ship as they cautiously built the fifth wicket partnership of 78 runs which pulled them back into the game. Agarwal also had another fruitful partnership with Karnewar of 70 runs for the sixth wicket. Vishesh Tiwari (30*) and Shreyas Padole (24*) threw their bats to take their score past the 230-run mark.

But that was not enough as Jajoo-Agrawal stole the show in the end.

SCOREBOARD

ORANGE TIGERS INNINGS R B 4 6

M Mahale c Jajoo b Bhute 0 1 0 0

D Shorey c Pawar b Bhute 0 1 0 0

Y Rathod c Bisht b Bhagwat 6 5 1 0

R Binkar c Taide b Agrawal 53 36 3 4

K Dahiya c Malewar b Bhute 0 2 0 0

A Agarwal c&b Agrawal 57 36 5 4

A Karnewar c Jajoo b Bhagwat 42 19 4 3

A Dullarwar run out (Sasan-Jaoo) 0 2 0 0

V Tiwari Not Out 30 14 4 1

S Padole Not Out 24 8 0 3

Extras: (w 15, lb 4, nb 4) 23

TOTAL: (8 wickets, 20 overs) 235

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-2, 3-10, 4-11, 5-59-, 6-159, 7-160, 

8-181.

Bowling: Bhute 4-0-41-3, Bhagwat 4-0-48-2, Kapse 4-0-37-0, 

Sarwate 2-0-17-0, Pawar 2-0-32-0, Agrawal 4-0-56-2.

BHARAT RANGERS INNINGS R B 4 6

A Taide c Padole b Thakare 13 7 3 0

D Malewar c Rathod b Thakare 22 9 2 2

V Jajoo c Binkar b Thakare 113 46 11 8

M Agrawal c Mahale b Thakare 52 30 6 1

V Bisht Not Out 12 6 1 1

J Sasan Not Out 13 5 3 0

Extras: (w 12) 12

TOTAL: (4 wickets, 17.1 overs) 237

Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-63, 3-206, 4-219.

Bowling: Dubey 4-0-45-0, Thakare 4-0-54-4, Padole 

3.1-0-48-0, Dullarwar 2-0-35-0, Karnewar 1-0-15-0,

Dahiya 2-0-29-0, Mahale 1-0-11-0.

Pagariya Strikers stun title holders Neco Master Blaster

By Paritosh Pramanik

RAVIKUMAR Samarth turned the tables as he anchored the
Pagariya Striker’s chase to perfection with a classic unbeaten century as they defeated defending champions Neco Master Blaster by five wickets to start their campaign on a positive note.

Chasing 220, Pagariya Strikers achieved the target with seven balls to spare.

If Neco Master Blaster rode on sixes, Pagariya Strikers built their innings mostly on boundaries with Samarth hitting 16 from a total of 27 in their innings.

Samarth, who also hit two sixes, played with full confidence finding gaps regularly. The Vidarbha pro picked three boundaries from one of Deepesh Parwani’s overs and also from seamer Ananmay Jayaswal over. He elegantly opened the face of his bat and scored boundaries between point and third-man region. His half century came from 23 balls and had seven boundaries and a couple of sixes. Pagariya Strikers did lose wickets but they still managed to score 76 runs in powerplay despite losing R Sanjay on first ball of their innings and then Mohd Faiz for 24.

Captain Yash Kadam was unlucky to get out after he played-on. Wicketkeeper-batter Shivam Deshmukh joined Samarth and the left-handed batter hit Parwani for a couple of sixes and a boundary. But the bowler had the last laugh as Deshmukh was caught at deep by Kadu for 39 runs.

Despite losing wickets from other end, Samarth kept the run rate in check with occasional boundaries and made sure they return home with two full points in their bag.

Earlier, Adhyayan Daga (78; 42b, 4x4, 7x6) justified his position as a stand-in skipper while Tushar Kadu (87; 26b, 5x4, 10x6) toyed with Pagariya Strikers bowlers as Neco Master Blaster batters rained sixes to post a huge 219-8 after being asked to bat first.

Pagariya Strikers bowlers did manage to contain Neco Master Blaster in the later part of the innings as they conceded only 19 runs in last three overs and took three wickets to keep the target achievable.

Daga, captaining the side in place of regular skipper Jitesh Sharma, who decided to take ‘rest’, started their innings with a flurry of boundaries and sixes. But it was Kadu who stole the limelight with his six-hitting spree. The right-handed batter was in a marauding mood and he spared none.

Neco Master Blaster raced to 89-1 in powerplay with Pagariya tasting only success when Lalit Yadav got the wicket of opener Vedant Dighade in the third over.

After powerplay, Kadu continued with his towering sixes and occasional boundaries as Daga played second fiddle. The captain, too, completed his half century off a six and the duo added 124 runs for the second wicket off 50 balls before Kadu was caught by Yadav off Kadam on his personal score of 87 in 11th over. Yadav and skipper Kadam emerged as best Pagariya Strikers bowlers with three wickets each.

SCOREBOARD

NECO MASTER BLASTER INNINGS R B 4 6

V Dighade c Deshmukh b Yadav 6 7 1 0

A Daga b Kadam 78 42 4 7

T Kadu c Yadav b Kadam 87 26 5 10

V Chandekar c Sheikh b Kadam 1 4 0 0

A Meshram b Chawate 12 18 0 0

S Rajput c Kadam b Sanjay 15 7 0 2

G Dhoble c Salve b Yadav 8 11 0 0

G Farde Not Out 1 1 0 0

S Deshmukh c Deshmukh b Yadav 7 4 0 1

Extras: (wd 3, lb 1) 4

TOTAL: (8 wickets, 20 overs) 219

Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-154, 3-165, 4-178, 5-195, 6-211, 

7-211, 8-219.

Bowling: Yadav 4-0-35-3, Kadam 4-0-31-3, Singh 2-0-49-0, 

Chawate 3-0-21-1, Gujar 4-0-40-0, Salve 1-0-24-0, 

Sanjay 2-0-18-1.

PAGARIYA STRIKERS INNINGS R B 4 6

R Sanjay c Gupta b Jayaswal 0 1 0 0

F Sheikh c Daga b Parwani 24 17 4 0

R Samarth Not Out 101 55 16 2

Y Kadam b Gupta 12 8 2 0

S Deshmukh c Kadu b Parwani 39 15 3 4

S Rai run out (Kadu) 4 4 0 0

A Ahuja Not Out 22 13 2 1

Extras: (w 18, lb 3) 21

TOTAL: (5 wickets, 18.5 overs) 223

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-62, 3-113, 4-164, 5-180.

Bowling: Jayaswal 3-0-35-1, Deshmukh 4-0-40-0, Parwani 

4-0-48-2, Farde 1-0-18-0, Dhoble 3-0-27-0, Gupta 3.5-0-52-1.

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Jitesh guides Neco Master Blaster players from sidelines

Special Correspondent

IN LESS than 24 hours after winning back to back IPL titles, Royal Challengers Bengaluru wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma joined his Vidarbha Premier League side Neco Master Blaster here in Nagpur for their opening game against Pagariya Strikers.

Jitesh, who is the captain of Neco Master Blaster but missed the opening game, was seen guiding his players from the sidelines. He was seen strolling with a team-mate near the boundary ropes and guided the players. 

At times he adjusted the field and during breaks he was seen in the huddle instructing players how to go forward during the match. 

Jitesh also waved to the spectators who were in the stands in quite good number. 

A complete team man who wants to win back to back VPL title, has already won two in two for RCB.

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Bharat Rangers take on Orange Tigers

By Paritosh Pramanik

INAUGURAL edition’s table toppers Bharat Rangers will take on Orange Tigers in their opening match of the Vidarbha Premier League Season 2 on Tuesday evening at VCA’s Jamtha International Stadium.

Bharat Rangers, led by Atharva Taide, are raring to go for the opening salvo and will be aiming to deliver a much better performance than last season where they lost to Neco Master Blaster to bow out of the tournament.

However, this year the team is fully geared up for seven matches they would be playing in the league phase. As per the format, all teams will play against the other team once and allotted two teams twice in the league round.

Bharat Rangers’ campaign begins against Orange Tigers, the team which made it to the play-offs last season.

Bharat Rangers have a strong batting line-up with opener-captain Taide and Danish Malewar opening the innings. Taide and Malewar both have played IPL and will use that experience in this tournament.

Malewar represented Mumbai Indians this season and though he could not make much of an impact, he cannot be overlooked. He will aim to give Bharat Rangers a solid start. The team also boasts of Varun Bisht, all-rounders Manan Agrawal, Nachiket Bhute, Aditya Sarvate to name a few.

Jagjot Sasan will be handy in the middle with his batting. He will also be an important cog in the bowling department with his gentle spin.

The bowling department will have to be on its toes when they deal with the Orange Tigers batting line-up which includes domestic red ball run machine Yash Rathod at the helm.

The hard-hitting batter will be eager to dominate the white ball cricket this season.

Bharat Rangers’ bowling will be spearheaded by Bhute, Shubham Kapse, Agrawal, Sarvate and Sasan.

As for Orange Tigers, they are well equipped with some quality cricketers. Vidarbha pro Dhruv Shorey, Akshay Karnewar, Rohit Binkar, Vishesh Ram Tiwari, who fetched a handsome amount in the auction and Mandar Mahale, who all have ability to clear the boundary with ease. 

Tigers got a boost with the inclusion of seamer Aditya Thakare in their side. They also have Shantanu Chikhale in the spin department.

In an afternoon game, India Warriors will meet Nagpur Heroz.

Special Correspondent

DEFENDING champions NECO Master Blasters will renew their rivalry when they take on last year’s finalist Pagariya Strikers in the opening match of the Vidarbha Premier League Season 2 at Vidarbha Cricket Association’s Jamtha International Stadium on Monday evening.

The tournament will be telecast live on Sony Sports Network and streamed on JioHotstar.

The second season of VPL will be much more entertaining and fiercely contested with all the six franchises getting enough time to train and have best players in their squad.

In the inaugural year, VCA prepared teams and handed over to the franchises. But this year, auction were held where all the franchises get locked in bidding war and secured most of the players they wanted. Apoorv Wankhade emerged as the costliest player with Nagpur Heroz getting him for Rs 8.30 lakh.

Apart from Neco Master Blaster and Pagariya Strikers who will open the tournament, India Warriors, Nagpur Heroz, Bharat Rangers and Orange Tigers all would fight it out for the coveted title in this 14-day tournament.

Meanwhile, Neco Master Blaster will miss captain Jitesh Sharma who was playing IPL final for Royal Challengers Bengaluru against Gujarat Titans. The team will be led by Adhyayan Daga in the opener.

Jitesh Sharma will take over from the second match. Similarly, Master Blaster will be missing Harsh Dubey who has been named in Indian team for Afghanistan series.

The team also has  Vedant Dighade, Ananmay Jayaswal, Sanmesh Deshmukh, Dipesh Parwani, Vaibhav Chandekar among others.

Pagariya Strikers will be captained by Yash Kadam. The team also has quality players in Mohd Faiz, fast bowler Lalit, Aditya Ahuja, R Sanjay, R Samarth, Shivam Deshmukh, Sooraj Rai.

It would exciting to see how the teams fare in the tournament proper. All the teams have played had ample of practice matches where they ironed out their flaws and now it is the time to deliver.Daily two matches will be played starting 2.30 pm.

The tournament will be played in IPL-like format. 

Six teams will play each other once and will play two teams twice.

Top four will make it to the play-offs. The Eliminator will be played between third and fourth placed teams while top two teams will play Qualifier 1. In Qualifier 2, the winner of Eliminator 1 will take on loser of Qualifier 1. The final will be played on June 14.

City's Harsh Dubey gets maiden India call-up for Afghanistan Test and ODIs

 ‘Feels like a dream, I am pinching myself’

By Paritosh Pramanik

HE ALWAYS dreamt of wearing India colours since his childhood. And when the day came, Harsh Dubey felt numb. Sitting on his seat in the flight which was taking his Sunrisers Hyderabad side back home for their last league match of the Indian Premier League, Dubey felt a certain hollowness. He could not react. ‘Thank you’... was his only reply to congratulatory messages from his team-mates and friends.

The Nagpur left-handed all-rounder Dubey has got a maiden call-up for the one-off Test and three-match ODI series against Afghanistan beginning June 6.

Dubey has been a regular in India ‘A’ side and has performed to the expectations of selectors in the opportunities he got.

He gained attention after setting a Ranji Trophy record with 69 wickets in a single season, surpassing the previous mark of 68.

In IPL, too, he was a regular in SRH playing XI. Picked as a replacement for R Smaran, Dubey immediately made an impact. In three games he played, the left-arm orthodox picked the prized scalps of Virat Kohli and Andre Russell last season.

But he never thought of getting selected in both, Test and ODI, squads.

“Unbelievable. Never thought of getting the maiden call-up. It still feels like a dream. Hope it is not. Hope this dream never ends,” Dubey replied to ‘The Hitavada’s call.

“We are about to fly. Will call you in the night and will have a long chat then, sir,” he humbly said, adding, there are several missed calls in my call log, will call you later.”

But when insisted for a couple of minutes, the 23-year-old obliged.

“This selection is because of the sacrifice made by my parents, father Surendra and mother Jyoti. Credit of this selection goes to them,” replied Dubey.

The left-handed bowler did not forget to thank the pains taken by his childhood coach Dilip Das.

“It is also because of my childhood coach Das sir, all members of Vidarbha Cricket Association for showing faith in me and giving me the opportunity to represent Vidarbha,” he added.

Dubey started his cricketing career with Ruby Club and was all praise for his former club.

“At Ruby Club I learnt the nuances of the game. The club gave me a strong foundation. I am thankful to each and member of the club.

“Also at Nagpur Cricket Academy (NCA), Madhav Bakre sir, who always supported me and allowed me to use the facilities. Without them I wouldn’t have achieved my dream,” Dubey told this scribe.

The selection news is yet to sink in and Dubey is yet to think about his preparation for the one-off Test starting in Mullanpur.

“It is yet to sink in. I am still dreaming, still numb. Let this sink in first and then only will I be able to think about the Test,” Dubey signed off as his Hyderabad-bound flight took off from Chennai.