CHENNAI: The news barely made headlines on a day the BCCI announced the postponement of IPL and rescheduled the last two ODIs against South Africa, and Saurashtra won Ranji Trophy. On the same Friday, Vidarbha achieved a feat that has few parallels in domestic cricket. By winning the U-23 Col CK Nayudu Trophy in Indore, the team low on glamour but high on performance clinched all four titles in the longer format in the men’s section. Starting in 2016-17, when their U-16 team won the Vijay Merchant Trophy, they have won the Ranji Trophy in 2017-18 and 2018-19, as well as the U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy in 2017-18. If at all, there are not many instances of one team pocketing all these in a span of three years.

Counted among also-rans not long ago, Vidarbha have emerged as the most consistent side across age groups. Other than winning titles, they have lost in finals and semifinals several times in the period mentioned. The Ranji team failed to make the knockouts this time after two successive title triumphs, but it was a narrow miss. They lost while going for a win despite having taken first-innings lead against Delhi in the penultimate league game.

Talking to this daily, Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) president Anand Jaiswal praised the efforts of vice-president and former international fast bowler Prashant Vaidya. “In keeping things in shape across age groups, his contribution has been immense. He has looked after everything,” said Jaiswal, who has headed the body from December 2016.

Jaiswal also notices a shift in mentality. “These boys have seen our teams do well and believe that they can do it. They are not there just to play, but to win. The pre-season mental conditioning camps we organised with professionals for two seasons have played a part. Then, we promote merit. There is no interference in selection.”

Other than that, Vidarbha have a policy of promoting homegrown talent. The Ranji teams have had outstation professionals and coaches. Below that, it’s all local coaches and talents. Their league allows outstation players, who can’t represent Vidarbha unless they fulfil the BCCI’s domicile rules. The top tier of the three-day league has 10 teams, which ensures even competition. Plus, there is a three-day league for the districts as well.

There is one discordant note in all this. In spite of sustained success at all levels of domestic cricket, Vidarbha has not produced many international players. Karnataka, another consistent team in domestic cricket, has several in the India and India A teams. Umesh Yadav is the lone India star from the region, which hardly has representation even in India A.

“Players will lose motivation if domestic performance goes unrewarded,” says Vidarbha’s two-time Ranji winning coach Chandrakant Pandit. “Maybe the selectors are going by age or the role-specific demands. But guys like Faiz Fazal (opener), Aditya Sarvate (left-arm spinner) and Akshway Wadkar (wicketkeeper) deserve to play at least with the A team.”

Trophy cabinet
U-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy: 2016-17
U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy: 2017-18
U-23 CK Nayudu Trophy: 2019-20
U-23 one-day championship: 2018-19
Ranji Trophy: 2017-18, 2018-19