India’s campaign in the Champions Trophy has begun on a resounding note. Sublime Shubman Gill, vintage Virat Kohli and a whole lot of bowling heroics featuring individuals like Mohammed Shami, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav are occupying the space of cricket consumption in a country which loves this OCD.
Far away, in a distant corner and beyond the spotlight, the most important match of India’s domestic calendar is going to start on Wednesday (February 26). The venue is Nagpur and the contestants are Vidarbha and Kerala in the final of the 90th edition of the Ranji Trophy — the competition in which the BCCI has attached a lot of importance of late.
Vidarbha, the hosts and the winners in 2017-18 and 2018-19 — who finished runner-up last season —are the favourites. Not only because of familiarity with the conditions at the VCA Stadium in Jamtha but also due to the resources they possess. Yash Rathod and Harsh Dubey are the impact batters and bowlers of the season and they have performers like Akshay Wadkar, Karun Nair, Aditya Thakare and Akshay Wakhade. There are more.
Vidarbha is a wonder in the recent history of Ranji Trophy. Rank nobodies for nearly a century to serious contenders over the last few years — they are among the biggest movers in domestic cricket. The way they outplayed Mumbai in the semi-finals and made them look like underdogs was sensational. No stars, no India players and no problem! Form the days they were under Chandrakant Pandit as coach and won the title in successive seasons, Vidarbha’s progress has been stunning.
Curiously, the team Vidarbha will face in the final also has a Pandit connect. The former India wicketkeeper and Mumbai legend used to be the head of the academies the Kerala Cricket Association had launched about a decade ago. If Vidarbha were nonentities until a few years back, Kerala were not even a dot in the domestic cricket map. Athletics, football, volleyball, basketball yes. Cricket? The Tinu Yohanans, S Sreesanths, Sanju Samsons happened, but Kerala as a force in the domestic circuit was nothing to reckon with.
For the Latest Sports News: Click Here
Coincidentally, that started changing when Pandit was in charge of the development programme. Kerala reached the Ranji semis under Dav Whatmore as coach in 2018-19 and got smashed against Vidarbha. The team they face now knows that this is a different kettle of fish. Kerala have come this far showing uncanny steel. One-run lead in the quarter-final against Jammu & Kashmir and taking it from 200/9 to 281, two-run lead in the semis against Gujarat and snatching the last three wickets under acute pressure — this team is not to be messed with.
A veteran like Sachin Baby, two vastly experienced outstation pros in Jalaj Saxena and Aditya Sarwate, along with a host of home-grown talent out to show their mettle, they are not going to go down without a fight. They bat deep and have specialist batters at No 7 and No 8. It’s a one-dimensional plan in a way, but it has worked for them so far.
Names don’t matter in domestic cricket. Performance under trying circumstances does. Salman Nizar, who is going to be immortalised in Kerala cricket because of the deflection his helmet caused and resulted in a manic fall of the last wicket against Gujarat, is one example. He grits it out and that’s what his team under Amay Khurasia as coach wants to do. They play boring cricket and care nothing about it. They block all day, for three days if need be. That’s where the secret of this game of patience lies and Kerala have cracked it.
Vidarbha, because of their might at the moment, are the favourites in this final on paper. Both teams, however, know that the match is not going to take place on paper. Earlier, most of Vidarbha’s successes came when they were not the favourites. Now, there is going to be a role reversal. In Kerala, the first-time finalists, the home team will come up against an unpredictable rival eager to punch above weight.
Also Read: Nothing was a shade of grey for Ian Chappell