The success of Vidarbha in the ongoing Col CK Nayudu Under-23 Cricket Trophy is the result of proper planning. It was a bold move to play Atharva Taide in the Under-23 quarterfinal against Mumbai after he had done well in the Ranji Trophy. The move worked as Vidarbha entered the semifinal only for the second time in history.
On a rank turner, Taide’s 134 and 70 against Mumbai turned out to be the difference between the two sides. He showed great application and patience.
Apart from Taide, Mohit Raut was the only batsman to cross the fifty-run mark from both sides.
“He was simply superb. His maturity stood out. He pushed Mumbai on backfoot on the first day itself. In the second innings, when all others were struggling, Taide was prepared for the grind,” a VCA source told TOI.
Taide has done well at every level he has played for the last 18 months or so. He has performed decently so far in three Ranji Trophy matches. More than anything else, he looked very much part of the set-up. So, it was a big risk to send him to play Under-23 and bring back struggling Sanjay Ramaswamy.
The Vidarbha think tank, was very clear what they wanted to achieve.
“The whole idea was to create balance in both senior and Under-23 teams. We feel our U-23 has a good chance to win the trophy. The quarterfinal against Mumbai was a pressure match. We wanted to cover all the bases.
“We knew Vidarbha can do well even without Atharva against Uttarakhand in Ranji quarterfinal so we included Taide and pacer Yash Thakur in the squad. Taide had also done well against Odisha and Goa when he wasn’t in the playing eleven of Ranji team,” the source added.
It could have backfired had Ramaswamy—on his comeback—would have failed again. Fortunately, Ramaswamy scored a brilliant hundred against Uttarakhand. “We all know what Sanjay can do. He had scored century in Duleep Trophy against much better bowlers this season. It was just bad phase for him where he was getting out. We needed all 15 players in form and confident in the semifinal. It served the purpose. If you have noticed, Thakur had also taken four wickets against Saurashtra in the last Ranji Trophy league match,” he said.
The official also had a word of praise for coach Trevor Gonsalves. “Trevor has handled the boys very well. Our team got relegated last year. This year, we bounced back in style and were ruthless. He has boosted the confidence of our players. I am sure, these boys can go distance under his guidance,” said the source.
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