Wakhare.
| Photo Credit: JOTHI RAMALINGAM B
There are only two players in the current Vidarbha squad to have played its solitary Ranji Trophy game at the Wankhede Stadium.
And there is only one cricketer to have played in both of Vidarbha’s previous Ranji encounters against Mumbai ahead of the big final, starting at the Big W from Sunday.
Akshay Wakhare is confident that the ghosts of 2013-14 – when Vidarbha was undone by a well-oiled Mumbai in the first-ever clash between the two teams – will have no bearing on the Ranji final.
“We are taking it as just another game. A majority of our bunch is used to feeling the big-match occasion. Whether to enjoy the occasion, soak in the pressure or crumble under it is up to an individual,” Wakhare told The Hindu on Friday, on the sidelines of Vidarbha’s maiden training session here.
“Ten years back, cricket was different for everyone. There is so much exposure for the youngsters now. I am confident that none of our younger players will be overawed either by the occasion or the location.”
Wakhare, the veteran offie, along with Umesh Yadav are the senior-most members of the lot that have transformed Vidarbha to a formidable force in domestic cricket.
While he is confident about the ability of the new generation, Wakhare reiterared the challenge of facing Mumbai, that too in a Ranji final at Wankhede.
“Mumbai has won the championship a whopping 41 times, so irrespective of the recent form, it will always be a giant in Ranji Trophy.
“But since our last game here, not just Vidarbha, all the conventionally smaller teams are playing fearless cricket,” said Wakhare, whose 278 wickets are Vidarbha’s second-highest in Ranji Trophy.
“The exposure – be it IPL, age-group cricket, corporate cricket – and the world-view makes the younger cricketers self-confident.”
Wakhare does not forget the drubbing Vidarbha received by Zaheer Khan-led Mumbai at Wankhede in November 2013-14, though.
“Wasim Jaffer scored a great hundred and then we had a batting collapse. Then on, we were playing only chasing the game and it continued to slip out of our hands and we lost outright,” he said.
“Some of us did get overawed by the aura of playing against Mumbai for the first time and at its home. Hopefully not any longer,” Wakhare signed off.