Ranjit Paradkar

Praful Hinge’s dream IPL debut, where he rattled Rajasthan Royals with four wickets, is a story of resilience and self-belief. After a career-threatening back injury, the Vidarbha pacer found support in Varun Aaron and Glenn McGrath, who guided his comeback. The seamer picked up four wickets on his IPL debut.

As the soft rays of setting sun threw a golden blanket over the YS Raja Reddy Cricket Stadium, the ear-to-ear smiles on the Vidarbha players' faces reflected their unabated dominance.

Indian Gymkhana will take on Eleven Stars, while Reshimbag Gymkhana will lock horns with Nav Nikettan Club in the semifinals of the Guzder League Twenty20 cricket tournament at the VCA Jamtha ground on Tuesday.

After four successful stints with the under-16 team, former Vidarbha skipper Ranjit Paradkar has been given a bigger responsibility this year as coach of the Vidarbha U-23 team.

Cricketers finally heaved a sigh of relief when they entered the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) ground at Civil Lines after a gap for four months on Monday.

Considered by many experts that Aniruddha Chore is not suited for Twenty20 format, the talented youngster answered his critics in style on Wednesday.

Just two seasons ago, he was Vidarbha's best batsman but an unfortunate hand injury and loss of form forced middle order batsman Ranjit Paradkar to call it a day at 32.

The last four days in Vadodara saw Vidarbha fighting one of the most emotionally charged battles. The semifinal clash against Madhya Pradesh had momentum shifting from one team to another before Vidarbha hurtled to five-wicket victory on Thursday morning.

Though T20 leagues like Guzder and Bapuna Cup were rained out, spoiling the Vidarbha players' parade, they have another crack at impressing selectors ahead of the all-important Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, thanks to a new league being rolled out by Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA).

It's surprising to see Ranjit calling it quits at 32 but he must have thought a lot about it before making this decision.

After an average performance in Round One of the MN Dorairajan three-day cricket Trophy, the senior players have struck form, something that would gladden the hearts of the Vidarbha team management.

With three former Indian players - Bahutule, Badani and SS Das - in Vidarbha's ranks now, Ranjit Paradkar may lose his captaincy despite doing a decent job last year.

When Ranjit Paradkar called it quits one and half years ago, many felt he could have easily extended his career. At 32, it was a tough decision because a cricketer goes through the best phase at this age. However, a hand injury and indifferent form forced Paradkar, a former Vidarbha captain, to take a call on his career.

There were days, there were lucky days and then there was this day for Vidarbha.

Vidarbha coach Paras Mhambrey is again on national duty. He will continue as a bowling coach for India Under-19 during the Youth Asia Cup to be held in Sri Lanka from December 13 to December 24. India Under-19 team, which was training at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, under the watchful eyes of head coach and ex-India captain Rahul Dravid, left for Sri Lanka on Monday.

Among all the players knocking on selectors' door, Aman Mokhade has always made his chances count, which helped him book a place in Vidarbha's T20 team for the forthcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy. The team will be led by Akshay Wadkar in the Group 'A' matches to be played in Rajkot from October 11 to 22.

Losing isn't such a bad thing if one is ready to learn from mistakes.For the last ten years, Vidarbha kept repeating the same mistakes and as a result they remained in the Plate group for nine years.

The scenes were amazing at Holkar Stadium in Indore. As soon as Sandesh Drugwar caught Uttar Pradesh No 10 Vishant Thakur to give all-rounder Prerit Agrawal his sixth wicket, an ebullient Vidarbha team ran towards the pavilion with stumps in their hands.

The shorter format always requires young legs on the field.It does make a huge difference when the youngsters are around; few runs saved or an exceptional catch could change the course of the match.

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.