The joyous festival of ‘Eid al-Fitr’ may well have come a few ♋weeks too early for former Vidarbha captain and current cricket coach Usman Ghan🍌i.
Losing two finals (Ranji & Vijay Hazare) within 10 months isn’t a good experience for any coach. However, the Vidarbha coach proved third time lucky as his proud and passionate side rolled♍ like a juggernaut to win the Ranji Trophy title.
And when the magic moment came on a memorable Sunday afternoon, it was a case of heart ruling🤡 the head for an otherwise strong and seemingly non-emotional Ghani. The bespectacled Vidarbha coach had tears rolling down his cheeks as he ran down to the ground to greet his boys in their crowning glory moment.
This is a dream come true moment. I’m so proud of my boys. They really worked hard and followed the process right through the year, and we got the results.
While this was Ghani’s first Ranji Trophy win as Coach, ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚfor Vidarbha, this was their third Ranji title. The teཧam finished as runners-up last season, losing to Mumbai in the big final.
Of course, the going hasn’t been easy for Ghani after his team lost the Ranji final last season to M🔯umbai. His leading player, le♕ft-arm spinner and all-rounder Aditya Sarvate - who played an important part in Vidarbha’s first two Ranji Trophy wins - had a fallout with him and parted ways to play for Kerala. As luck would have it, Vidarbha lost the Vijay Hazare final against Karnataka two months back.
Losing two finals in less than a year isn’t a nice feeling. But that didn’t dent the team’s confidence or self-belief. The boys worked hard in the off-season, and the results are there for everyone to see. “The best thing about this side is that we play as a team, and the boys enjoy each other’s success. To have a healthy environment in the dressing room. That is very important.”
The best thing about this side is that we play as a team, and the boys enjoy each other’s success. To have a healthy environment in the dressing room. That is very important.
As Coach, Usman Ghani has himself come up through the ranks coaching the Under-16 and Under-19 teams in the year🤪s gone by. This is precisely why he knows most of the players, who have come up from junior-grade cricket, better than anyone else.
Young Harsh Dubey (who got a look in only because Aditya Sarvate moved to Kerala this season) set a new Ranji Trophy record by bagging 69 wickets in a season. Similarly, Yash Rathod scored 930 runs to emerge as the top run-getter. Then there is Danish Mallewar (who scored 153 & 73 in the final) who looks quite promising. We had different players performing in every game.
The 21-year-o⛄ld Mallewar seems to be Ghani’s special fancy.
I have been following his progress since junior levels. He had done well with the Under-23 team, and I thought he was ready for Ranji and convinced the selectors to pick him in the playing eleven.
Being in charge of a champion team that prides itself on having quality cricketers and mentally tough young guns, thꦰere is this one thing that Ghani wants to tick off his wish list.
I want my boys to set a goal of playing for India. As a Ranji Trophy team, Vidarbha has been doing well for almost a decade now. We are also doing well in junior-grade cricket. But how many of our players have gone on to play for India? Quite a few of them are associated with different franchisees in the IPL. They need to better that. There is no greater honour than to play for your country.
