All posts tagged: Vidarbha Cricket

‘I will find my process, rhythm as soon as I can’: Karun Nair hopes to carry forward domestic form into IPL for Delhi Capitals | Cricket News

‘I will find my process, rhythm as soon as I can’: Karun Nair hopes to carry forward domestic form into IPL for Delhi Capitals | Cricket News

After a fantastic domestic domestic season where he helped Vidarbha win the Ranji Trophy, batter Karun Nair said that he wants to replicate that success and help Delhi Capitals win the Indian Premier League, which is set to start in less than a week. “I am really happy to back at the Delhi Capitals, I am excited to join the side and to play with everyone. I will treat the game as important as the last one. I didn’t change much at all, I just trusted the process and kept it going throughout the tournament and that’s what was planned for this season,” Nair said during an interaction with media. “I will find my process, my rhythm as soon as I can and I will like to start well early and will try to get better as the tournament goes on. The only thing that I have done is playing according to the situation, added a few shots and built the confidence to execute them when needed. I also now try to stay relaxed,” he …

Ranji Trophy: Tireless Harsh Dubey gains Vidarbha the advantage despite not underestimating Kerala’s comeback tendencies | Cricket News

Ranji Trophy: Tireless Harsh Dubey gains Vidarbha the advantage despite not underestimating Kerala’s comeback tendencies | Cricket News

The groundsmen lingered near the pitch until Jamtha turned eerily dark and before the swarm of bats flew out from their hideouts under the floodlights. The long-toothed brooms whipped up clouds of dust from the weary surface, before the staff flattened the roughs with large, green hammers. Beyond the boundary ropes, on the linear balcony with wood-panelled walls, Vidarbha’s players were chit-chatting and giggling. The opposite end was empty, the Kerala contingent had left in a hurry, leaving just a trail of empty water bottles, torn sheets of paper and perhaps broken shards of their dreams. The mood of the two sides could not have been starker when the third day ended. Vidarbha were jubilant and relaxed. They might not be underestimating Kerala’s comeback tendencies, there could be more devious twists, yet the joy born out of Kerala’s flaky collapse, was irresistible for them to hide. Harsh Dubey, who became the highest wicket-taker in a single Ranji season, reveals as much: “We definitely have a massive advantage, a lead of 37 runs, and they have …

Ranji Trophy final: Will Kerala pay the price for Sachin Baby’s ill-timed slog sweep? | Cricket News

Ranji Trophy final: Will Kerala pay the price for Sachin Baby’s ill-timed slog sweep? | Cricket News

For an eternity, Sachin Baby stood frozen on his bent knee. His batting ally Jalaj Saxena let out a shriek in anger so loud that it could have been heard as far as the Wardha Road. But Sachin was too shocked to even scream or shout or curse himself, or to move from his crouched follow-through. He had just played the stroke that could define his career, self-destroying a knock that could have defined his life. Two runs away from his hundred, 56 runs away from snatching lead in the Ranji final, half his batting colleagues dismissed, he fatally slog-swept Parth Rekhade to deep mid-wicket. It was his lone moment of indiscretion in an innings that lasted 235 balls, where he was the wall of resistance and the fountain of hope that kept Kerala in the game and dragged them to the promised land. It was the exact second the game took a decisive shift towards Kerala. Psychologically battered, they were shot out for 342 runs, the visitors losing the last four wickets for 18 …

Ranji Trophy final: Powered by outsiders Karun Nair’s Vidarbha and Aditya Sarwate’s Kerala vie for domestic title | Cricket News

Ranji Trophy final: Powered by outsiders Karun Nair’s Vidarbha and Aditya Sarwate’s Kerala vie for domestic title | Cricket News

As Karun Nair fixed his cap, stroked the stubbled chin and smiled into the cameras mounted near the stairway to the dressing room, Kerala captain Sachin Baby, striding onto the ground, yipped at the reporters queuing up to shoot questions: “Avanod Malayalathil utharam parayan para!” Ask him to give the answers in Malayalam. Karun flashed a hearty smile and retorted: “Seri, aykotte! Roughly translated as “ok, let it be.” It’s been a dreamy season for Karun’s Vidarbha, and Baby’s Kerala. Now the two teams will be vying for the Ranji Trophy. There is a bit of history; in 2017-18, Vidarbha had steamrollered Kerala in the quarterfinals enroute to their first championship title. Around 20-25 journalists from Kerala are at Nagpur, sniffing a chance to report history. For the next half an hour after, Karun patiently answered their questions, often indulging in one-on-one sessions, forced to hear the same questions about his ties with Kerala and give similar answers. Like, “how often do you visit Kerala? What’s your favourite cuisine? Do you speak Malayalam at home? …

Ranji Trophy final: Why Vidarbha is not taking Kerala lightly | Cricket News

Ranji Trophy final: Why Vidarbha is not taking Kerala lightly | Cricket News

In the hidden nodes of Sachin Baby’s memory the sullen afternoon in Wayanad six seasons ago lurks. He stiffly denies lingering pieces of the semifinal heartbreak that Vidarbha inflicted on Kerala, watched on by the forested hills. “I have buried the memories of the game a long time ago,” he tells The Indian Express. But like hard-to-forget tragedies, the game remains vivid in his consciousness, the details emerging organically when he dwells on the final that unfolds from Wednesday at the Jamtha Stadium. Like he says, “This Vidarbha is vastly different from that Vidarbha.” Then he goes on describing the mastery of Umesh Yadav, who blew “stronger than the winds on that day.” Or when he insists on “not committing silly errors,” and draws a parallel with “the run out that ended his second innings.” The Kerala captain mumbles “misjudgment” twice. 9⃣ matches8⃣ wins1⃣ draw (With first innings lead) Vidarbha have been dominant this season, showcasing top-class cricket 💪 Here’s how they reached their 4⃣th #RanjiTrophy Final 👌👌#RoadToFinal pic.twitter.com/gthX0eq9KQ — BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) February 25, …

Rise of Vidarbha cricket: Improving mental toughness, monsoon base in Pondicherry & nurturing India ambitions | Cricket News

Rise of Vidarbha cricket: Improving mental toughness, monsoon base in Pondicherry & nurturing India ambitions | Cricket News

“Do not stop any practice session until you have achieved what you set out to gain from that particular day,” Vidarbha’s in-form Yash Rathod tells a trio of enthusiastic teens who approached the southpaw for batting inputs. The 24-year-old also offered to call up his veteran teammate Karun Nair from the dugout to get them more insights on the ‘process’. “If you ask Karun bhai about something specific, maybe I’ll also learn something new from the chat,” Rathod tells the local Jaipur kids. Rathod’s hunger extends to team Vidarbha, the Ranji team which is geo-located at India’s zero mile stone, but only recently been at the centre of cricketing excellence, previously overshadowed by Mumbai and Maharashtra in domestic cricket. “The Indian system is so competitive that only fractions separate the top teams from the rest. At the right time, you have to be good,” coach Usman Ghani says after Vidarbha’s spotless day on the field. It is those decisive nuggets and fractions that Ghani and his bunch have polished and perfected over the last decade. …

Selfie requests soar as Karun Nair back in public attention but remains focussed on his goal to keep scoring runs

Selfie requests soar as Karun Nair back in public attention but remains focussed on his goal to keep scoring runs

Right at the end of three-hour net session on Wednesday where he had the answers to all the balls hurled at him, Karun Nair was flummoxed by a request. A young net bowler wanted “any” piece of his fresh gear to hold for posterity. “If it was only at the end of the season, what can I do now?” Nair shrugged. Not just that net bowler but a flock of cricketers who had checked in for the state police team selections in the ground adjacent to the practice venue greeted Karun Nair with selfie requests and a thick huddle on his way out. With the Champions Trophy less than a month away and a grinding Test season behind them, it is unclear how much a red-ball league appearance here can help struggling seniors, including captain Rohit Sharma, revive their red-ball status before the next Test assignment in England in June. For Karun Nair though, the second phase of the Ranji Trophy beginning Thursday, is as vital for him as anybody. It is a window of …