Dubey and Desai's chance to inspire as Vidarbha take on Saurashtra for Vijay Hazare title
Both teams are in the middle of a transition but neither has lost their edge
Shashank Kishore
17-Jan-2026 • 1 hr ago
Harsh Dubey, 23, has a chance to make history for Vidarbha • PTI
Big picture: How Vidarbha and Saurashtra have kept their edge
Two teams that were on the periphery of their respective zones until even a decade ago now consistently find themselves challenging for titles.
Vidarbha, finalists in last year'sVijay Hazare Trophy as well, have developed a system that has helped develop young players faster than elsewhere in the country - reflected by how well they've been able to replace veterans like Faiz Fazal, Akshay Wakhare, Umesh Yadav and Ganesh Satish.
Last season, captain Karun Nair and batter Danish Malewar were central figures. Nair has since returned to Karnataka and Malewar sidelined to injury. Yet, they've found able replacements. One of them, Aman Mokhade, is the leading run-getter in this Vijay Hazare Trophy and the captaincy has seamlessly been passed on to Harsh Dubey, who is establishing himself as a potential all-round replacement for Ravindra Jadeja in the Indian Test team.
Saurashtra's title challenge comes at a time when they've undergone transition too. Sheldon Jackson and Cheteshwar Pujara have retired, Jaydev Unadkat is managing his workloads and the captaincy has passed on to Harvik Desai, who has led astutely.
They have as many as six players who have scored 250 runs or more this season. Among them, Vishvaraj Jadeja and Desai themselves have made over 500 runs, while the likes of Chirag Jani and Prerak Mankad have given them the luxury of playing two seam-bowling allrounders. All of which makes this final a meeting of two settled sides built to absorb change without losing their edge.
Form Guide
Saurashtra WWWWW (last five completed matches, most-recent first)
Vidarbha WWWLW
Vidarbha WWWLW
In the spotlight: Dubey and Desai
In last year's final, Dubey played a clutch knock - a 30-ball 63 to keep Vidarbha's chase of 349 alive close to the very end, after bowling a tight spell of 10-0-49-0. That performance came in a breakthrough season. The 23-year-old has since earned the right to lead his team and Sunday presents a serious chance: can Dubey inspire Vidarbha to their maiden Hazare crown?
Unlike his former India Under-19 team-mates Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw or Arshdeep Singh, Desai has had to wait for the spotlight to find him. Eight years after winning the Youth World Cup, the 26-year-old has begun to carve a niche of his own, having become a heavy run-scorer across formats for Saurashtra and succeeded the inspirational Unadkat as captain.
Team News: Unadkat hits the ground running
Unadkat sat out of the league phase of the Vijay Hazare Trophy but was brought in for the end stages of the competition and played the semi-final against Punjab. The only position that could potentially be up for grabs is in the lower order. Left-arm spin allrounder Parswaraj Rana, who featured in Friday's knockout game, didn't bat or bowl.
Saurashtra (probable): 1 Harvik Desai (capt, wk), 2 Vishvaraj Jadeja, 3 Prerak Mankad, 4 Samar Gajjar, 5 Ruchit Ahir, 6 Chirag Jani, 7 Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, 8 Jaydev Unadkat, 9 Chetan Sakariya, 10 Ankur Panwar, 11 Parswaraj Rana
Vidarbha are likely to remain unchanged.
Vidarbha (probabale): 1 Atharva Taide, 2 Aman Mokhade, 3 Dhruv Shorey, 4 R Samarth, 5 Yash Rathod, Rohit Binkar (wk), 7 Harsh Dubey (capt), 8 Darshan Nalkande, 9 Yash Kadam, 10 Yash Thakur, 11 Nachiket Bhute
Pitch and conditions: Dew could make chasing easier
Both of this season's Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-finals, played in the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, were won by the chasing team with dew playing a part. However, in the afternoon, bowlers have been able to exploit the grip off the surface. Conditions are expected to remain the same, even though this match will be played on a fresh pitch.
Stats and trivia: Mokhade eyes a big record
- After 17 seasons of not being able to make it this far, Vidarbha are playing back-to-back 50-over finals. Last year, they finished runners-up to Karnataka
- Saurashtra, meanwhile, have won two of the three finals they've been a part of. Their last triumph was in 2022-23, when they beat Maharashtra
- Vidarbha opener Mokhade is 50 short of eclipsing N Jagadeesan's record of most runs in a single Vijay Hazare season. Mokhade has currently made 781 runs in nine innings at an average of 97.62, with five centuries
Shashank Kishore is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo