Ranji Trophy 2019-20 | Unfortunate that Vidarbha boys didn’t get to play at higher level, laments Faiz Fazal

Two-time Ranji Trophy winners, also the defending champions, Vidarbha will start off their campaign in this season by taking on Andhra Pradesh. The series opener is scheduled to start from December 9 at the Dr. Gokaraju Liala Gangaaraju ACA Cricket Ground in Vijaywada, Andhra Pradesh. 

Ahead of the start of their campaign, Vidarbha skipper Fazal has expressed his disappointment over the team’s players not getting a chance to play at the higher level or to feature in the Indian Premier League.

“Even after winning two Ranjis and Iranis, our boys haven’t played at a higher level. There is no question of being complacent. As I have said before, we are down to earth people. We are simple guys, aiming to play at the higher level in our careers. We will repeat our hard work,” Fazal was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

Despite winning the Ranji Trophy and Irani Trophy, both, in two consecutive years, Vidarbha hasn’t been able to translate the red-ball brilliance into winning white-ball formats. However, skipper Fazal is treating the SMAT failure as a blessing in disguise, with it giving them extra time to prepare for the all-important Ranji Trophy. 

“Unfortunately, we didn’t qualify for the final rounds of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy but it gave us time to prepare for Ranji. We did the same old drills which worked for us in the past. We played a few games with match simulations, which we have been doing for two years,” Fazal added.