Ranji Trophy 2018-19: Vidarbha Cricket Association announce a whopping prize money for the team

Vidarbha defeated Saurashtra in the final of the 2018/19 Ranji Trophy in the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium in Jamtha, Nagpur to not only defend their title but also win the trophy for the second consecutive year. With their 78-run win over Saurashtra, Vidarbha became the sixth team in Indian domestic cricket to win the Ranji Trophy title two times in a row.

Pleased with the exemplary effort from their team, the VCA has now announced a monetary prize for all the squad members of the trophy winning side.

VCA will give away INR 3 crores as a cash reward to the team, which was confirmed by VCA President Anand Jaiswal. “The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) gives Rs 2 crore (as prize money) and we (VCA) will be giving Rs 3 crore additionally (to the team). So, the total purse will be Rs 5 crore,” he was quoted as saying by Times of India.

All-Round performance from Vidarbha

Vidarbha gained from playing at their home ground against Saurashtra in the final, as they put up 312 runs on the board batting first with Akshay Karnewar top scoring with 73*. Saurashtra replied with 307, with Snell Patel hitting 102. Aditya Sarwate, the left-arm spinner picked 5/98 for Vidarbha and he played a big role in the home team’s win.

In the second innings, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja’s 6/96 restricted Vidarbha to just 200 runs, with Sarwate making 49. Set 206 runs to win, Saurashtra crumbled against some quality spin bowling, again by Sarwate, who picked 6/59 and 11/157 in the match to bowl out the opposition to just 127 runs and won Vidarbha the match by 78 runs and was also named the Man of the Match for his efforts.

The biggest accomplishment for Vidarbha was keeping the in-form Saurashtra batsman Cheteshwar Pujara quiet during the two innings, as he was dismissed for 1 and 0 in the match, both times by Sarwate.

Meanwhile, VCA President Jaiswal also said that the celebration function for the Ranji Trophy win was postponed due to the Irani Trophy match being played from February 12 in the same city itself. Jaiswal also mentioned that the function would be held at a later date where the cash award will be presented to the players.

Vidarbha joined the list of teams like Mumbai, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Delhi in winning the Ranji title two times consecutively.

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