Akshay Wadkar to lead Vidarbha in Irani Trophy

Mumbai, Sep 24 (PTI) Wicketkeeper batter Akshay Wadkar was on Wednesday named captain of Ranji Trophy champions Vidarbha for the Irani Cup clash against Rest of India beginning in Nagpur from October 1.

Vidarbha will be eyeing their third Irani Cup after winning it in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, while the RoI has won the prestigious title 29 times.

The VCA’s senior selection committee comprising Sudhir Wankhede, P. Vivek and Jayesh Dongaokar, which met on Wednesday, appointed prolific batter Yash Rathod as the vice-captain.

Rathod was the highest run-getter during the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season with 960 runs.

Wadkar has scored 3906 runs from 62 first-class matches at an average of 48.82 with 11 hundreds.

Usman Ghani, who had masterminded Vidarbha’s Ranji title run last season, will coach the side.

Vidarbha squad: Akshay Wadkar (Captain & WK), Yash Rathod (Vice-Captain), Atharva Taide, Aman Mokhade, Danish Malewar, Harsh Dubey, Parth Rekhade, Yash Thakur, Nachiket Bhute, Darshan Nalkande, Aditya Thakare, Akshay Karnewar, Yash Kadam, Shivam Deshmukh (WK), Praful Hinge, Dhruv Shorey. PTI UNG BS BS