Five Vidarbha cricketers in U-19 Zonal Cricket Academy

NAGPUR: Vidarbha junior teams have done well this season and players are duly getting rewarded for their performances. Five Vidarbha players - Parth Rekhade, Aditya Thakre, Atharva Tayade, Yash Rathod and Yash Kadam have been selected for Central Zone Zonal Cricket Academy Camp (CZZCA) to be held in Jaipur from April 20 to May 14.
Vidarbha Under-19 finished runners-up in the Vinoo Mankad One-day Trophy, while they just missed out on a knock-out berth in Cooch Behar Trophy.In fact, they beat Punjab and Baroda, both of who qualified for the knock-outs.
Left-arm spinner Parth had a great season where he led from the front. He picked up 34 wickets in 6 matches at an impressive average of 15.94 and economy rate of 1.98. He single-handedly scripted victories against Odisha and Punjab by picking nine wickets each in both the matches. Later, he was included in the India Under-19 probables camp before England series and played a warm-up One-day match against visiting side.
In Vinoo Mankad One-Day Trophy, left-arm spinner Parth was again instrumental as he captured 10 wickets in 5 matches at an average of 14.20 and economy of 3.89. Later, he picked up 23 wickets in three matches of Under-23 Col CK Nayudu Trophy.
His teammate, Atharva was impressive in Vinoo Mankad Trophy as well as four-day format. The allrounder was among the top ten Indian batsmen in the One-day tournament with 200 runs in 5 matches with 71 being his best score. In multi-day format, he was impressive with the ball and picked 21 wickets including a five-wicket haul in 6 matches with 5-29 being the best figure.
Another promising batsmen of the team Yash Rathod stood tall during the season and scored 370 runs at an average of 37 in 6 matches. His tally included a century and a half century. Yash Kadam was included in the last match against Odisha and he made a brilliant 119 on a difficult wicket to help Vidarbha record a comprehensive 10-wicket victory.
Medium pacer Aditya Thakare missed out most of the season due to injury but he still has a chance for the 2018 Under-19 World Cup. The Central Zone selectors have showed faith in his abilities. Thakare had a great 2015-16 season in Cooch Behar Trophy where he picked up 34 wickets at an impressive average of 10.64 in the tournament.
Vidarbha Under-16 and Under-22 teams have also done well this season. While Under-16 team emerged all India champion, Under-22 reached semifinal for the first time in the history.