Ranji Trophy: Vidarbha name 17-man squad under Akshay Wadkar, open against Puducherry at Jamtha

Vidarbha will again have their eyes on the Ranji Trophy title. The team announced a 17-member squad for the new season on Tuesday. Akshay Wadkar continues as captain, with Yash Rathod named vice-captain.

Vidarbha's campaign begins at home. They will play Puducherry in an Elite Group 'A' match at the VCA Stadium, Jamtha, from October 11 to 14. In 2024-25, Vidarbha won the Ranji title for the third time.

Last season, however, left the team with a bitter memory. In the league stage, Vidarbha collected 31 points from four wins and two draws. They were joint leaders of Elite Group 'A' with Andhra and Jharkhand, but the bonus-point arithmetic changed the picture.

Jharkhand had three bonus points, Andhra two and Vidarbha just one. Vidarbha were therefore out of the race for the knockouts. Even after beating Uttar Pradesh by four wickets in their last match, their quarter-final place was not confirmed. This season, then, winning matches alone will not be enough for Vidarbha. Earning bonus points and making the most of decisive moments will be equally important.

Under captain Wadkar, the squad shows a good mix of experience and youthful energy. In bowling, Harsh Dubey and Parth Rekhade (spin all-rounders) and Ganesh Bhosale (off-spin) are the options. The pace attack comprises Nachiket Bhute, Praful Hinge, Darshan Nalkande and Rajneesh Gurbani.

The batters are Aman Mokhade, Danish Malewar, Atharva Taide, Yash Rathod, Dhruv Shorey and R. Samarth. Satyam Bhoyar and Yash Kadam are batting all-rounders. The squad has two wicketkeepers: captain Wadkar and Shivam Deshmukh. Usman Ghani will be the team's coach.

The 2024-25 season was a superb one for Vidarbha. In the final, they beat Kerala on the strength of a first-innings lead to win the Ranji Trophy for the third time. In that season, they won five of their seven league matches and finished top of the group with 33 points.

Before that, Vidarbha had won two consecutive titles in 2017-18 and 2018-19. The hallmark of that title-winning side was collective strength.

The senior selection committee of Vidarbha made no new changes to the squad announced on Tuesday. All the faces are familiar. Shivam Deshmukh is the wicketkeeper as back-up to Wadkar, though it cannot be said that he will make his debut this season.

Mandar Mahale, Abhishek Agrawal, Saurabh Dubey and Shubham Kapse have been picked as standby players. Over the past year, these four have made an impression with their performances.