Bahutule likely to be new Vidarbha captain

NAGPUR: With three former Indian players - Sairaj Bahutule, Hemang Badani and Shiv Sundar Das - in Vidarbha's ranks now, Ranjit Paradkar may lose his captaincy despite doing a decent job last year.Come next season and Vidarbha Ranji Trophy team is likely to have a new captain, its fourth since Preetam Gandhe hanged his boots in 2009.If sources are to be believed, Mumbai all-rounder Bahutule maytake over Vidarbha's reigns."All three have played much more thanour cricketers and have wealth of experience. Bahutule has been around foralmost two decades, so he is an ideal candidate for the captain's job," a sourcesaid.If that happens, it would be unfortunate for Paradkar, underwhom Vidarbha reached the semifinals of Vijay Hazare One-day Trophy where theylost to champions Jharkhand. While Paradkar didn't feature in Twenty20, he ledthe side well in the Ranji Trophy. In fact, he was the highest run-getter forVidarbha last year. Besides, he knows much better about the local players thanthe professionals who are yet to join the team.The newly-electedselection panel and coach Sulakshan Kulkarni will surely have to take some toughcalls. Bahutule is 38 and no one is sure how long he will continue. On the otherhand, Paradkar is 29 and he has performed well in the last threeyears.What if Bahutule decides to quit or leave after a year or two?The selectors will then have to look for a new captain. The team now lookssettled under Paradkar. Besides, except Badani, the other two are strugglingwith the form. So, it won't be an ideal situation for a team to have a leaderwho is struggling.Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA), which was firmly against the professionals for the last decade and half or so, suddenly opted for three professionals. It's always wise to plug the loopholes and VCA did it with bringing two former Indian batsmen - Badani and Das, even though the latter has been out of form for the last three years. While the batting has been achilles heels for Vidarbha over the years, bowlers have put up a consistent performance over the years. In fact, Vidarbha have conceded over 400 runs in an innings only twice ever since they lost the high-scoring Plate Group semifinals against Karnataka in 2002. So there was no need of a bowling professional in the side.Vidarbha have three quality pacers in Umesh Yadav, ShreekantWagh and Sandeep Singh besides several youngsters like Amol Jungade, ShaileshBhondekar and Ashwin Hatekar. Off-spinner Akshay Wakhare has done really wellafter the retirement of Gandhe. Leg-spinner Azhar Sheikh and left-arm spinnerSumit Ruikar have also been waiting in the wings. In fact, Ruikar did well inthe recently-concluded Karnataka State Cricket Association Trophy where hebagged 18 wickets.It's still unclear whether the trio of Bahutule,Badani and Das-all in their mid thirties-will feature in the shorter formats ornot. Vidarbha may have been struggling in the longer format but the team hasdone well in Twenty20 and one-dayers, which require young legs.