Confident Vidarbha to take on star-studded Delhi in opener

After qualifying for knockouts in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali T-20 Cricket Tournament, Vidarbha, under the leadership of new skipper, Akshay Wadkar is all set to take on Delhi in another white ball cricket tournament i.e. Vijay Hazare Trophy beginning at Kolkata on Saturday.

The confidence of Vidarbha is high against Delhi as they have beaten the star-studded side a few days back in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy quarters. They would like to carry the same confidence in this format of the game also. As far as Hazare Trophy is concerned d the stats are in favour of Vidarbha. On two occasions Vidarbha and Delhi clashed with each other and Vidarbha won all two matches. But previous stats hardly matters in limited-overs games.

Vidarbha looks balanced side having the combination of experience and youth. Seasoned campaigner Faiz Fazal who so far has played 107 list A matches and scored 3452 runs hitting nine centuries and 22 half centuries will have the company of Young Atharva Taide, Ganesh Satish, R Sanjay. Wicketkeeper-batsman Jitesh Sharma, captain Wadkar himself and explosive Apoorv Wankhede have strengthened the middle order.

Umesh Yadav will be the pace spearhead and he will have the company of Darshan Nalkande and Yash Thakur, both the successful bowlers in the T-20 format of the game. Harsh Dubey and Aditya Sarwate will be the spinners.

On the other hand, Delhi will play under the leadership of Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan. Speedster Ishant Sharma, Navdeep Saini, Dhruv Shorey and Nitish Rana make the squad strong.

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Important match to set the tone: Wadkar

Akshay Wadkar to whom the selectors have handed over the reins of Vidarbha one-day team said the first match will set the tone of the tournament.

" As a captain I think first match is very important for us as it will set the tone for the tournament. Delhi are bot side as they have experienced players but at the same time, our team is also balanced. If we manage to beat Delhi then it will give the boost to us", he said.

Wadkar said although their ultimate target is to win the trophy they will go step by step toward their goal. About team combination, he said, " The experienced players like Faiz Fazal, Ganesh Satsh, Umesh Yadav have added the strength to the squad. But we do not depend on any particular player. Ultimately it is team work". Teams

Vidarbha Squad: Faiz Fazal, Jitesh Sharma(w), Ganesh Satish, Akshay Wadkar(c), Sanjay Raghunath, Aditya Sarwate, Lalit M Yadav, Akshay Karnewar, Apoorv Wankhade, Umesh Yadav, Yash Thakur, Darshan Nalkande, Atharva Taide, Harsh Dubey and Nachiket Bhute.

Delhi Squad: Anuj Rawat(w), Shikhar Dhawan(c), Nitish Rana, Himmat Singh, Ayush Badoni, Lalit Yadav, Dhruv Shorey, Yogesh Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Navdeep Saini, Jonty Sidhu, Lakshay Thareja, Shivank Vashisht, Pradeep Sangwan, Vaibhav Kandpal, Hrithik Shokeen, Mayank Yadav and Yash Dhull.