Belief in each other drove Vidarbha’s title run
Bengaluru: Vidarbha’s dominant title run in the Vijay Hazare Trophy was a result of the players’ belief in each other which helped them overcome challenging situations successfully, reckoned head coach Usman Ghani.
Reigning Ranji Trophy champions Vidarbha defeated Saurashtra by 38 runs here on Sunday to add the premier domestic one-day title also to their showcase.
“We believe in each other. We have been a dominant team in the white ball formats for a while now, but that white ball trophy has eluded us. This year we didn’t have a good outing in the SMAT as well, losing a couple of close matches and could not even reach the Super League,” Ghani told PTI.
“But this time we were confident and backed each other to bring a white ball trophy home. The team responded well to the challenge by playing a brand of positive cricket,” he added.
Support is the key word for Ghani, a trait he thinks helps the team consistently rise above situations and fancied teams.
“We have to support each player, it does not matter if it’s a clutch situation or not. We have to be behind them. If one game goes wrong for us, we are always confident of coming back and that’s what we are teaching everyone in the team.
“That has become a mindset of the team now, and if you look at it in the last couple of matches (VHT semifinal and final) we haven’t had that kind of situation. It’s all about keeping a positive mindset as a team,” he noted.
Unlike many teams in the domestic circuit, Vidarbha seemed to have found the right balance between red ball and white ball formats. Ghani credited it to Vidarbha’s incredible bench strength and diversity of players.
“Look (Dhruv) Shorey didn’t get to play in the final. We did not have the services of injured Danish Malewar also as he was injured in the league phase at Rajkot. But there is a good bench strength and healthy competition in Vidarbha for spots. “So, we have players waiting to grab the opportunities and they want to capitalise on each outing, and that makes it easy for us to take on challenges,” he said.
