Vidarbha hope to build on good start

DHARAMSHALA: Surrounded by picturesque mountains, the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala resembles the Newlands stadium in Cape Town. Such is the beauty of this place that it won't be easy to get the focus right. Focus, however, would be the key word for these two teams-Vidarbha and Himachal-when they begin the battle in the second round of Ranji Trophy Plate Group tie, which gets underway here on Thursday.
Both teams have started the season brightly but the road will only get tougher from here for the Elite spot. And who knows better than Himachal, who have been there for a while but relegated twice. It's neither easy to get into the Elite Group, nor survive there. Vidarbha haven't been in the knock-outs for the last nine years, which clearly shows that the competition is getting tougher with each passing season.
To get better and compete with the Elite Group teams, these Plate Group teams need to plug all the loopholes and cover all the bases. However, with the line-ups they have, Vidarabha and Himachal seem to have done their homework well. Now, it's the time for the implementation part. Another good outing will take them a step ahead for the knock-out berth but if the things don't fall in place, the pressure will start mounting.
Himachal will surely carry the confidence of their innings victory against Tripura but even they would know that Vidarbha will be much better and tougher opposition, especially with the presence of three professionals-Sairaj Bahutule, Shiv Sunder Das and Hemang Badani. Bahutule, the new Vidarbha skipper, led from the front in the last match against Kerala. On a flat wicket, he used all his experience to help his team garner important points against Kerala.
Badani and Das too looked in good touch and if they come good, they have it in them to bat out the opposition. The good news for Vidarbha, however, is the performance of local players. Ranjit Paradkar showed
in the last match that he is learning to shoulder the responsibility while Shalabh Shrivastava's progress this season has been amazing. The last match centurions would be keen to continue their good show.
Himachal team management too would be happy to see their 'own' players performing well without enough contributions from the professionals-Sridharan Sriram, Ajay Ratra and Paul Valthaty.
"It's one of the best sporting wickets in the country. It helps everyone. The seamers get the movement in the air and off the pitch on all four days. With its hardness, those who apply well can score big. It's matter of
application and patience," Himachal coach Rajdeep Kalsi told TOI after a grueling practice session.