Vidarbha’s dominant title run in the Vijay Hazare Trophy was a result of the players’ belief in each other which helped them overcome challenging situations successfully, reckoned head coach Usman Ghani.

Reigning Ranji Trophy champions Vidarbha defeated Saurashtra by 38 runs in Bengaluru on Sunday (January 18, 2026) to add the premier domestic one-day title also to their showcase.

“We believe in each other. We have been a dominant team in the white ball formats for a while now, but that white ball trophy has eluded us. This year we didn’t have a good outing in the SMAT as well, losing a couple of close matches and could not even reach the Super League,” Ghani told PTI.

“But this time we were confident and backed each other to bring a white ball trophy home. The team responded well to the challenge by playing a brand of positive cricket,” he added.

Support is the key word for Ghani, a trait he thinks helps the team consistently rise above situations and fancied teams.

“We have to support each player, it does not matter if it’s a clutch situation or not. We have to be behind them. If one game goes wrong for us, we are always confident of coming back and that’s what we are teaching everyone in the team.

“That has become a mindset of the team now, and if you look at it in the last couple of matches [VHT semifinal and final] we haven’t had that kind of situation. It’s all about keeping a positive mindset as a team,” he noted.

Unlike many teams in the domestic circuit, Vidarbha seemed to have found the right balance between red ball and white ball formats. Ghani credited it to Vidarbha’s incredible bench strength and diversity of players.

“Look [Dhruv] Shorey didn’t get to play in the final. We did not have the services of injured Danish Malewar also as he was injured in the league phase at Rajkot. But there is a good bench strength and healthy competition in Vidarbha for spots.

“So, we have players waiting to grab the opportunities and they want to capitalise on each outing, and that makes it easy for us to take on challenges,” he said.

Ghani is keen to project the team effort behind success, but could not avoid talking about a few individuals who shouldered Vidarbha’s campaign admirably.

Aman Mokhade is one of them as the 25-year-old opener bagged the player of the series award, scoring a tournament-highest 814 runs at an average of 90.44 with five hundreds.

“I have seen him from a very young age and he has always been a sharp learner. Earlier in the season, he had a couple of bad matches, and runs were not coming but we still persisted with him because he is a good talent.”

“He repaid our faith, scoring over 500 runs so far [in Ranji Trophy] and then over 800 runs in Hazare, which shows his skill and temperament. I know these young players’ mindset, they are very confident and that’s what we need as a team,” he said.

Yash Thakur underlined his domestic performer tag, taking 19 wickets to top Vidarbha’s bowling charts in this Vijay Hazare Trophy, and Ghani has high expectations on his lead pacer.

“Thakur has been a complete leader of this side with the ball. He’s just 26, but he’s been one of the most consistent bowlers around. He’s got a very good head and reads the game very well. He reads the batsmen early and that’s very important for a bowler. He keeps working on the batsmen and it keeps him always ahead of them.”

“He’s mentally very strong too. He has a good amount of self-motivation and has worked on his pace too. Unfortunately, he’s not playing for the country. He is a consistent performer and, hopefully, his chances will come soon,” he said.

Ghani was also effusive in his praise for 23-year-old Harsh Dubey for leading Vidarbha in a mature way.

“He has put in a lot of work as a bowler and leader. There’s a lot of competition for spots in Vidarbha but when we gave him a chance he proved worthy of it.”

“He is a very patient individual and developed good relations with senior players in the side as well. He talks with everyone and encourages a lot of communication.”

Vidarbha will resume their Ranji Trophy campaign against Andhra at Anantapur on January 22. They are currently leading Group A with 25 points from five matches.

Ghani hoped that the team can adapt to the needs of red ball cricket after playing white ball formats for close to two months.

“Yeah, it may be a bit tough but most of the teams have to go through it and that’s how the season is now. We have to adapt to the different formats quickly.”

“It’s a challenge but we know we can adapt to it, and continue the good work that we had put in in the first phase,” he signed off.

Published – January 20, 2026 02:36 am IST

Vidarbha’s Aman Mokhade plays a shot during the Vijay Hazare Trophy final cricket match between Vidarbha and Saurashtra, at the BCCI Centre of Excellence ground in Bengaluru on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Karnataka skipper Mayank Agarwal notched up his second century of this year’s tournament against Rajasthan in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI

The absence of Virat Kohli did not matter as Delhi recorded its third successive success in the 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy, chasing down Saurashtra’s stiff 320 with three wickets to spare.

At the Alur Grounds near here on Monday, Delhi’s reply was led by opener Priyansh Arya’s belligerent half-century (78, 45b, 5×4, 6×6) before two crucial partnerships lower down the order carried the side to victory.

From 208 for five, with leader Rishabh Pant back in the hut, Tejasvi Dahiya (53, 51b, 3×4, 3×6) and Harsh Tyagi (49, 45b, 3×4, 1×6) came together for a 40-run association. Tyagi, then, combined for 69 very-important runs with Navdeep Saini (34 n.o., 29b, 2×4, 1×6) to help fashion a fine win.

Delhi’s teamwork was reflected in the fact that Arya’s 78 was the highest score and there were as many as six partnerships which were 36 runs or more.

Earlier, Saurashtra, after being asked to bat first, rode on opener Vishvarajsinh Jadeja’s century (115, 104b, 13×4, 1×6). No.7 batter Ruchit Ahir’s unbeaten, breakneck 95 (65b, 7×4, 5×6) propelled the Harvik Desai-led team to a seemingly challenging score but it was not to be.

For Delhi, the bowling trio of Ishant Sharma (5-0-20-0), Saini (10-0-41-3) and Prince Yadav (10-0-64-2) came good again even as Simarjeet Singh proved expensive (10-0-86-0).

Elsewhere, Andhra fell to its second defeat in three encounters, losing to Odisha by a comprehensive six-wicket margin.

Batting first, Andhra made just 221, with middle-order batter SDNV Prasad top-scoring with 66 (64b, 6×4, 2×6). He had little support from others, and if not for No. 10 Saurabh Kumar’s 47 (26b, 3×4, 4×6), Andhra would have lost more heavily.

Ricky Bhui, after two half-centuries in two matches, suffered a downturn, making only 18. Odisha skipper Biplab Samantaray and Govinda Poddar returned identical figures of 3/36 each.

Odisha’s chase rested on a 166-run association for the third wicket between Om T. Munde (91, 111b, 7×4) and Govinda Poddar (89, 105b, 9×4), and the duo helped set up Samantaray & Co.’s second win on the bounce after the loss in the Elite Group-D opener against Saurashtra.

The scores: At BCCI CoE: Haryana 299 in 49.4 overs (Mayank Shandilya 86, H.J. Rana 57, Samant Jakhar 49) bt Gujarat 273 in 47.1 overs (Jaymeet Patel 67, Vishal B. Jayswal 51, Ravi Bishnoi 40); Toss: Gujarat.

Alur 1: Andhra 221 in 49.2 overs (SDNV Prasad 66, Saurabh Kumar 47) lost to Odisha 223/4 in 43.4 overs (Om T. Munde 91, Govinda Poddar 89).

Alur 2: Saurashtra 320/7 in 50 overs (Vishvarajsinh Jadeja 115, Gajjar Sammar 41, Ruchit Ahir 95 n.o.) lost to Delhi 321/7 in 48.5 overs (Priyansh Arya 78, Tejasvi Dahiya 53, Harsh Tyagi 49).

Alur 3: Railways 365/7 in 50 overs (Pratham Singh 73, Ravi Singh 88, Ashutosh Sharma 50, Zeeshan Ali Khan 48 n.o.) bt Services 281 in 47.2 overs (Sagar Dahiya 95, Ravi Chauhan 73).

Published – December 29, 2025 11:26 pm IST

Virat Kohli plays a shot during the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 cricket match between Andhra and Delhi, at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground, in Bengaluru, on December 24, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI

After a prolonged wait on the sidelines and a melancholic social media post nearly three years back, Karun Nair has made a sensational reunion with cricket, scoring five hundreds in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy and he is now cautiously optimistic about wearing the Indian jersey after eight years.

Karun, who has scored 752 runs at a mind-blowing average of 752 for Vidarbha, now looks hungry for runs, and is a far cry from the forlorn player who scribbled: “Dear Cricket, please give me another chance.”

Will that opportunity come his way when the selectors announce India’s ODI squads for the home one-dayers against England and the ICC Champions Trophy? Only time will tell, but he has good reasons to “dream.” “The dream is always to play for the country. So, yes, the dream is still alive. That’s the reason we play this game, to play for your country. So, the one and only goal was to play for the country,” Karun told PTI.

But as someone who has endured massive setbacks and near-misses in his career, Karun does not want to think too far ahead.

“I think this is my third comeback (laughs). And I need to keep doing what I am doing at the moment. Keep scoring runs whenever I can in every single game that I play. That’s the most that I can do. Everything else is not in my control.

“But till it (selection) happens, it’s just a dream. It’s still not there yet. But again, like I said, I would like to focus on one innings at a time,” the 33-year-old said.

So, what has he done differently from the past to get back to his run-making ways?

“I’ve not done anything differently. There is no secret. I think it’s just years of hard work and persistence, you know, the coming together of all of it. And probably you can say, taking each day as a new one and making sure that I respect every single innings that I play.” But there were days when the 33-year-old was apprehensive about his cricketing future, when runs totally dried up in domestic matches and in the IPL.

“I will be lying if I say I was not afraid. I think anyone would have those feelings. But I never had the thought that my career would end. I just had the thought of where it is going? What am I doing? How has this happened? “It takes a while for you to come out of that phase and to understand what is happening and then what you are supposed to do. So, I told myself that I need to start from zero again.

“And give myself a few years and see where it goes. And then I can decide what to do. So, that was my thought process,” he explained.

But the tough passage made him more aware about himself and his game.

“It was a tough situation to be in. Emotionally, mentally. But yeah, it really taught me a lot of things about myself as a person and about my cricket. So, I am really grateful for those learnings. Without that, I don’t think I would be in this situation at the moment.”

Shifting to Vidarbha was a good move

The first hint of change in his fortunes came along with a shift to Vidarbha from Karnataka ahead of the 2023-24 season.

“I am really grateful that I got this opportunity from Vidarbha Cricket Association to play First-Class cricket. First of all, without which, you know, I wouldn’t be here. And for the platform they have provided and the environment they have created to, you know, welcome me.

“They treat me as a family and make me feel like I have been playing with them for many years.

“And I never got the feeling that I am a professional or an outsider. So, it was really comfortable. And very humble people. So, they all helped me get through each and every game with a smile and a positive environment,” he said.

The right-handed batter also thanked former India pacer Abey Kuruvilla for facilitating his entry into Vidarbha squad.

“Abey Kuruvila was the person I spoke to first. I just spoke to him saying that I just need a team to play. And he is the one who spoke to Vidarbha Cricket Association and put me in touch with them,” he added.

Since then the runs began to steadily increase.

He made runs for Burbage & ER Cricket Club in the minor county before smashing a double hundred for Northamptonshire in the County circuit.

In that year’s Ranji Trophy season Karun fared well, amassing 690 runs from 10 matches at an average of 40.58 with two hundreds, something that later prompted VCA officials to hand over the captaincy to him.

But the second Indian batter to make a triple hundred in Test cricket, has not forgotten his days of struggle, which keeps a memory point to stay rooted.

“I have not forgotten those days. I have learnt a lot. You know, each time it gets tougher, you come out as a stronger person from that.

“So, I am really thankful for all the experiences. But I would like to use them to, you know, to my advantage and make sure that I learn from every single day and every single innings.

“I want to keep getting better as a cricketer and as a person. So, that’s how I look at life at the moment,” he signed off.