VID vs KER

Akshay Wadkar (captain, Vidarbha): "The effort we put in during the entire season has paid off today, everyone is happy. Last year, we lost the final. The preparations started immediately after that and each individual put in effort to improve their skillset, fitness. We have many contributors in the Top scorers and Top wicket-takers list this season. Yash Rathod and Danish Malewar. Yash was the highest scorer, scored runs in crucial situations. Danish too came up two crucial knocks in this final. They showed mental toughness. As a player, as a captain. It was my dream to win the Ranji Trophy for my team. It is the dream for any player in First-class cricket and we have achieved it today. Definitely, all the aspects have been ticked. We will see what we can work on during the off-season."

Harsh Dubey of Vidarbha is the Player of the Tournament for the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy. He has picked up 69 wickets and scored 476 runs

Harsh Dubey (Vidarbha): It has been a great moment, a dream moment for us. We lost the finals last season and it is special for us as Akshay bhai will be retiring and it is good to send him off with a title. I worked on my fitness and batting during the pre-season. I try to take it one game at a time, bowl wicket to wicket, and ensure that I strike. I started off as a batter, hence have that attachment to batting. My goal is to play for India, but I do not want to think about it and complicate things. I will rest for a bit and get back to training before the next season

Danish Malewar (Player of the Match): "Very good season for me. This was my first Ranji season. Learned a lot. Luckily, I managed to be impactful in this final. I was prepared a little bit for this. Had been dismissed on 50s, 60s a few times. Worked on it and I managed to convert in this final. He has a lot of experience, we both have a simple formula. If I had a loss in concentration, he would help me asking me to play straight. There is a lot of difference between U-19 and Ranji. There is a lot of difference in experience levels. There is not as much planning as there is in Ranji Trophy."

Sachin Baby (captain, Kerala): It is a big final, my team and association are very proud of reaching the finals. Here, whoever makes the lesser mistake wins, and kudos to Vidarbha for that. Good performance from both bowlers and batters and I am very proud of them. As I said, whoever makes the lesser mistakes wins. As a leader, I take responsibility for playing a rash shot and conceding the advantage. Nothing much, I wanted to be there for the team till the end and get the lead. If we got a lead, it was to be 100+ but then it was destiny as you said. KCA has put a lot of effort in all categories and this is our first final in all formats. We faced them (Vidarbha) on three occasions before but we will beat them the next time.

Yash Rathod (Vidarbha): No secrets, I was preparing well before the season. I wanted to get 1000 runs this season but missed it by 40 runs. Nonetheless, very happy. You need to analyse various conditions and ball movements in the pre-season. I try to work on my techniques as well. I want to dominate all three formats and do my best 

MATCH DRAWN!

Vidarbha 379/10
Kerala 342/10
Vidarbha 375/9

Karun Nair 135 (295) | Danish Malewar 73 (162)

Aditya Sarwate 4/96 (44.5) | NP Basil 1/18 (7)

02:19 PM IST: So, that is that as Vidarbha become Ranji Trophy Champions for the third time! What a dominant season for Vidarbha as they were on top throughout the season. Kerala will regret at missing out at the last stage but they will nevertheless be proud of this campaign when not a lot of people would have expected them to reach the final.

But it is time to talk about the Champions! What a campaign once again. Despite being reduced to 24/3 in the first innings, the duo of Danish Malewar and Karun Nair stitched a crucial 215-run partnership. Karun missed out on his century but Malewar went onto score 153 with Vidarbha eventually finishing up on 379!

Kerala replied pretty well with Aditya Sarwate who was promoted to No.3 going onto score 79 runs. Skipper Sachin Baby also batted well but he fell agonizingly short of his century by two runs and that opened the floodgates for Vidarbha. All of a sudden, Kerala collapsed from 324/6 to 342 all-out giving a lead of 37 runs to Vidarbha.

The Kerala bowled removed the Vidarbha openers cheaply but Malewar and Karun came together once again to put on a 182-run partnership. This time it was Malewar who missed out on his century but Karun went onto make 135 runs. Vidarbha went into Stumps on Day 5 having almost sealed the trophy but Karun and Akshay Wadkar fell early today to give Kerala some hope. Eden Apple Tom also got rid of Harsh Dubey to send some jitters in the Vidarbha camp. However, Akshay Karnewar and Darshan Nalkande batted out a lot of deliveries to push Kerala completely out of the picture. NP Basil dismissed Karnewar for 30 while Aditya Sarwate dismissed Nachiket Bhute but Nalkande battled on and went onto score a half-century with Yash Thakur giving him company. As soon as Nalkande reached his milestone, the Kerala skipper Sachin Baby decided tio shake hands meaning that Vidarbha sealed their third Ranji Trophy title.

143.5 Aditya Sarwate to Darshan Nalkande, TWO RUNS! 50 FOR NALKANDE AND THEY SHAKE HANDS! Back of a length delivery on the line of the off stump, Nalkande gets onto his backfoot and knocks it towards deep square leg for a quick brace to get to his 50. Sachin Baby walks up to Nalkande, congratulates him, and shakes hands. Vidarbha win Ranji Trophy 2024-25 based on the first innings lead and win their third title overall, first since the 2018-19 season

143.4 Aditya Sarwate to Darshan Nalkande, full and on the line of the off stump. Nalkande comes down the track and plays it towards long on for a brace. Moves onto 49!

143.2 Aditya Sarwate to Yash Thakur, length delivery on the middle and off stump. Thakur manages to negotiate the low bounce on that one and turns it towards midwicket for a single

142.5 Jalaj Saxena to Yash Thakur, DROPPED! Length delivery on the line of the off stump. Turns into the batter, who turns it on the legside and it raps the short leg on his visor. A chance goes down and the physio will come out in the middle to check him