‘Were Confident Of Action Plan & Pulling Off Win Over K’taka’

Nagpur: The usually restrained Aditya Sarvate was all charged up. After trapping Manish Pandey lbw, the Vidarbha vice-captain waved a send-off, something he is not known to do often. Barring the fleeting heat of the moment reaction, Vidarbha players didn’t show much emotions on Day 5.
Even after posting a thumping win over Karnataka there were no wild celebrations.Like the golden days of the back-to-back Ranji Trophy titles, Vidarbha players are saving the loudest celebration for the big match this time too. “We are saving it for the finals. We are confident of winning the trophy again this year,” a player said.

“Being in the Ranji Trophy semifinal is not new for us. Yes, we did miss out on the last four spot in the last couple of years, and we know the reasons for it now. This season, we rectified past mistakes. Now, we are confident of going the distance. So, there weren’t wild or loud celebrations,” another player said.
Despite Karnataka, led by skipper Mayank Agarwal, finishing Day 4 on 103 for 1, there were no worries in the Vidarbha camp. “We went into the last day with zero pressure. We knew that it was a matter of just one wicket. We had a strategy chalked out,” a senior member of the team said.
“The plan was not to give boundary balls to Mayank Agarwal. We knew that he wanted to dominate the bowlers. We played with his patience. Once the boundaries dried up, he threw his wicket,” he added.
Talking about the Pandey episode, a team management member said that a verbal spat on Day 4 was the reason behind Sarvate’s uncharacteristic send-off to the Karnataka batter.
Team sources said Sarvate, while batting on Day 4, was subjected to abusive sledging by Karnataka pacer Vidwath Kaverppa.
When Sarvate objected and told the bowler to let his performance do the talking, Karnataka skipper Agarwal too joined in, the source said.
Storming into the last four stage with a big win under its belt, the team is now confident of going past Madhya Pradesh. Playing the semifinal at home will be a big advantage, a team think-tank member said.
“The home advantage will be with us. We have been playing good cricket this season. Skipper Akshay Wadkar, apart from scoring runs, is leading the team well. Unlike in the past, he is taking on-field decisions like bowling changes and placement of fielders,” the source said.
“It is always good that the skipper and senior players take these decisions rather than somebody sitting outside, as they know how things are panning out in the middle,” the source further added.