Apoorv Wankhade

Centuries from captain Faiz Fazal (119) and Apoorv Wankhade (107) enabled Vidarbha take a firm control of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final match against Kerala at the end of the fourth day's play here.

While the Vidarbha Cricket Association is still to announce the squad, TOI has learnt Wankhade, in all likelihood, will be part of the Ranji Trophy squad.

Vidarbha's strategy of reserving their key players for the death overs paid off as they posted 206 for 5 against Chhattisgarh, who were bowled out for 190 in 19.5 overs. Jitesh Sharma, Shubham Dubey, and Apoorv Wankhade's late assault ensured a 16-run victory, securing a quarterfinal spot in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Apoorv Wankhade's liking for a difficult role of stabilizer-cum-finisher needs no introduction. Owing to his six-hitting prowess, he was given the Vidarbha T20 cap way back in 2011 when he was just 18.

Wasim Jaffer missed out on a triple hundred but Vidarbha, in their bid to out-bat Rest of India, posted a mammoth 702 for five at stumps on a rain-curtailed third day of the Irani Cup on Friday.

Vidarbha ended up with a record 800 for seven before pacer Rajneesh Gurbani tore through the Rest of India batting to put the reigning Ranji champions on the cusp of securing the Irani Cup here.

Always known for throwing his hat in the ring when Vidarbha needs him, Akshay Wadkar did what he does best, on Saturday. Once skipper Faiz Fazal missed his double ton by just 8 runs, Wadkar knew that his team would need a good first innings lead to press for an outright result against Uttar Pradesh. He took over from Faiz and played in his typical stay-busy style to rush to his century and swell Vidarbha’s lead to 247-run on Day-3 of Ranji Trophy match.

The Vidarbha Cricket Association has declared the team for the Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 Zonal (Central Zone) Cricket tournament scheduled to be played at Indore from March 24 to 29.

Two contrasting innings by two contrasting players - Faiz Fazal (45, 28b, 4x4) and Apoorv Wankhade (36, 24b, 1x4, 3x6) - in contrasting situations set up the game for Vidarbha.

Five Vidarbha players including India pacer Umesh Yadav have been included in the final list for the Indian Premier League 2021 auction, which is scheduled to be held in Chennai on February 18.

Vidarbha fell agonizingly short of victory, losing by five runs to Chandigarh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Apoorv Wankhade's blistering 72 off 36 balls went in vain as Vidarbha collapsed in the final over, needing 14 runs with four wickets in hand. Chandigarh's Shivam Bhambri earlier top-scored with 75, setting a challenging 192-run target.

When the going gets tough, Faiz Fazal gets going. The southpaw opener had had a topsy turvy ride on the field and off it in the last 15 days.

Aditya Sarwate and Umesh Yadav had Mumbai in their grip. They contended the Mumbai line-up, capable of threatening any side, by keeping all their IPL regulars in check. They did so well early on that Mumbai were kept below 160 and it looked like Vidarbha would romp home in Rajkot on Sunday.

The Jamtha wicket had no demons. It was still very good to bat on even after three days of wear and tear. Had Vidarbha lower middle-order applied themselves and stayed with allrounder Karn Sharma (52 not out, 7x4, 2x6), they would have crossed Chhattisgarh's 489.

At 8:45 in the morning, the parents of Rajneesh Gurbani got ready to witness the gripping final day of the historic semifinal on internet at their Vijay Nagar apartment. They were hoping for Vidarbha’s easy win over Karnataka on Day 5 to enter the Ranji Trophy final for the first time.

At 3.30pm as the ball lobbed up to mid-on, every Vidarbha player present on the field at Lalbhai Contractor Stadium in Surat had their hands up in the air. Just one of them, Akshay Wakhare, was going for the catch. They knew that the offie would hold on to the catch for his life.

Several former Vidarbha captains’ unfulfilled dream of seeing the team lift Ranji trophy could come true if all goes well in the next few weeks.

Vidarbha on Monday registered the second biggest margin victory in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament with a 167-run thumping of Manipur in their Plate group match.

The problem that haunted Vidarbha in Vijay Hazare Trophy reared its ugly head again. The conundrum that the side had suffered in the one-dayers was that their key batters got out after getting their eyes in. The Faiz Fazal-led side were in a similar situation that cost them dear on Tuesday.