Team Vidarbha’s successful
bid to defend the Ranji Trophy title will surely go into record books as to how
a small and less fancied team from central part of India rose to prominence
with sheer dedication and self belief. There was a time when Vidarbha boys’
winning match in the Ranji Trophy was considered as a ‘miracle’ and the team
was a regular at the bottom of the points table.
The team was losing matches
on a trot and the management as well as administrators were continuously facing
flak from the followers of the game. Deliberations over the bad state of the
team, its depleting performance and the actions initiated to improve the same bore
no result. Every year the story was repeated and the administrators, that
included the current chairman of the ICC, were annoyed at the team’s poor
show.
However, some ‘imports’ from
other parts of the nation, particularly from the cities known for producing
Little Master, Master Blaster and The Wall, the cricketing ‘state’ gradually
developed into one of the most revered teams on the domestic circuits. This was
all under the supervision of a man who was ‘humiliated’ in his home state and
took the baton of raising a team that can match the likes of Mumbai, Bangalore,
Delhi, Hyderabad and other big wigs.
The coach with his discipline
and no-nonsense attitude transformed the fortune of Vidarbha to being a side to
reckon with. Even the new crop of players responded to his call and gave their
100% on the field. The captain, the senior players and the administrators came
together to achieve the goal that was considered to be unachievable till a
couple of years ago.
After closely following
Vidarbha cricket for the past 20 years, it was unimaginable for me to think
that one-day the coveted trophy would land in the arms of Vidarbhaites. The
boys and the support staff not only achieved the ‘target’, but kept the spirits
high and repeated the feat for the second consecutive year.
Today, the team can proudly
hold its head high and move like champions, unlike earlier years when the team
had to put its head down. The coach, the captain and the administrators have
now started talking about some players of the victorious team being capable of donning
India colours. The ‘state’ has seen very few players going on to represent
India, prominent ones being Prashant Vaidya and Umesh Yadav. Though some
players in the past were part of zonal teams that played inter-zonal matches,
but they failed to ‘impress the selectors’ and be in contention of getting into
the Team India.
Riding high on their
performance in the national tournament for the last couple of years, the
Vidarbha cricketers hope that they have now ‘impressed’ the selectors and won a
national call for themselves. Whether they get into national team or not, only
time will tell. But the boys have certainly given a reason to the selectors to
ponder over their names when they sit for team selection next time.
