Delhi stand in way as Vidarbha chase maiden Ranji glory

A win away from their maiden title, Vidarbha embodied the allure often associated with underdogs as they braced up to face a battle-hardened Delhi that has for years braved a system that is anything but robust, in the final of Ranji Trophy.

Since reaching their maiden semifinal of the country's premier domestic tournament, Vidarbha's story has been about getting familiarised with unchartered territories, and now they are up against a team that is also seeking happy endings for years.If Vidarbha's dream run ends in a heartbreak at the Holkar Stadium, it would pave the way for Delhi's eighth triumph -- the last coming almost a decade back.

From scoring a crucial 95 in the fourth-innings quarterfinal chase against Madhya Pradesh to the century versus Bengal in the last-four stage, Gambhir has had a decisive role in the team's progress to the final, and a substantial outing here would be befitting.

Gambhir's much-younger opening partner, Kunal Chandela, too is coming off a century in the semi-final, and Delhi are fortunate to enter the season's biggest game with their openers in top form.The seven-time winners have a young captain in Pant and though he has had a quiet season, the wicketkeeper would certainly look to impress the national selectors present there, with handsome contributions.

As far as Vidarbha are concerned, their charge has been led by the experienced Faiz Fazal (843 runs at an average of 76.63) and his opening partner, Sanjay Ramaswamy (735 runs at an average 66.81).Last but not the least are veteran Wasim Jaffer and coach Chandrakant Pandit, who have won multiple titles with Mumbai.The duo have been inspiration for the Vidarbha youngsters as they know the recipe for winning India's blue riband trophy.

Squads:

Vidarbha: Faiz Fazal (captain), Sanjay Ramaswamy, Wasim Jaffer, Ganesh Sathish, Apoorv Wankhede, Vinod Wadkar (wk), Aditya Sarwate, Akshay Wakhare, SiddeshNeral, Rajneesh Gurbani, Karn Sharma, Shalabh Srivastava, Siddhesh Wath (wk), Akshay Karnewar, Suniket Bingewar, Ravikumar Thakur, Aditya Thakare.

Delhi: Rishabh Pant (captain and wk), Gautam Gambhir, Kunal Chandela, Dhruv Shorey, Nitish Rana, Himmat Singh, Manan Sharma, Vikas Mishra, Vikas Tokas, Navdeep Saini, Kulwant Khejroliya, Akash Sudan, Shivam Sharma, Unmukt Chand, Milind Kumar.