Vidarbha Cricket Association

KKR rope in Vidarbha pacer Saurabh Dubey
Vidarbha left-arm pacer Saurabh Dubey will replace injured India pacer Akash Deep in the KKR squad for the upcoming IPL season, 2026.

Akash Deep, who has represented India in 10 Tests, was ruled out of the high-profile T20 tournament due to a lumbar stress injury.

Dubey will replace Akash Deep at KKR. He will join KKR at his base price of Rs30 lakh. He had entered the IPL 2026 mini-auction with a base price of Rs 30 lakh but had gone unsold.

Dubey was part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad in 2022 after he was picked up by the franchise at his base price of Rs 20 lakh. However, he did not get to play a single game and is still awaiting his IPL debut.

He will be the sixth Vidarbha player in the fray in IPL 2026.

All-rounder Harsh Dubey and pacer Praful Hinge will turn out for Sunrisers Hyderabad. The highly-rated young batsman Danish Malewar has been roped in by the Mumbai Indians. Pacer Yash Thakur has been retained by the Punjab Kings, while big-hitter Shubham Dubey too has been retained by the Rajasthan Royals.

VPL 2026 Preparations Gain Momentum with Successful Franchise Workshop

Nagpur, 21 March 2026

The Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) today conducted the Franchise Workshop for the upcoming season of the Vidarbha Premier League (VPL) 2026, marking a key step in the preparations for the second edition of the League.

The workshop was attended by franchise representatives, members of the Governing Council, and officials from TCM Sports Management Private Limited, the league’s management partner.

During the session, key aspects of the League including the tournament structure, player auction framework, operational planning, and commercial guidelines were discussed in detail to ensure a smooth and professionally managed season.

The workshop reflected strong alignment between VCA and TCM Sports Management, with both entities working closely to deliver a high-quality and competitive tournament.

Addressing the participants, the Chairman emphasised the importance of discipline, transparency, and collective responsibility in building the Vidarbha Premier League into a professionally run and widely respected regional competition.

The Vidarbha Premier League continues to serve as an important platform for emerging cricketing talent from the region, while contributing to the overall development of the sport in Vidarbha.

VCA President inaugurates Dorairajan Trophy

The 14th edition of Dr. M.N. Dorairajan Invitation (Multi-Day) Cricket Tournament was inaugurated by President of the Vidarbha Cricket Association, Justice V. M. Deshpande (former judge of the Bombay High Court), at the VCA Civil Lines Stadium in Nagpur, on Monday, 16th March, 2026. The inuguration was followed by the match between defending champions MSSC and Indian Gymkhana.
VCA’s Hon. Joint-Secretary, Mr. Gautam Kale, Executive Committee Member, Mr. Alhad Gokhale and VCA’s Deputy CEO, Mr. Aniket Devdhar were also present on the occasion.

Dorairajan Trophy inauguration on Monday
The inauguration ceremony of the 14th edition of Dr. M.N. Dorairajan Invitation Tournament will be held on Monday, 16th March 2026 at 08:30 am at VCA Civil Lines Ground, Nagpur.

Justice (Retd.) V. M. Deshpande, President of the Vidarbha Cricket Association, will grace the occasion as the Chief Guest.

Six first-round multi-day matches get underway at various grounds on Monday.
The following is the schedule:
March 16-18, 2026:
SGR Sports Academy vs Advocate XI (NSSM, Ground 1, Jamtha)
MSSC vs Indian Gymkhana (VCA Civil Lines Stadium)
VMV CC VS XI Star CC (SB City College Ground)
Qidwai CC vs AIR ( VCA’s Kalamna Ground)
Reshimbagh Gymkhana vs Navniketan CC (Gurunanak Pharmacy College Ground)
MRCC vs Ruby Colts (DY Patil Academy ground)

Vidarbha girls lose to Haryana

Vidarbha lost to Haryana by 130 runs in their last Elite Group C match in the U23 Women’s One-Day Trophy in Pondicherry on Wednesday.
Haryana piled up 255/6 in 50 overs after Vidarbha won the toss and elected to bowl first. Deeya Yadav, Sakshi Lohia and Sonia Mendhiya all made half centuries.
Aayushi Thakre was Vidarbha’s best bowler with figures of 4/41.
Vidarbha lost opener Arya Pongde early but Dharvi Tembhurne and Riddhima Maradwar took the score to 42 before Dharvi was dismissed by Gulshan Ali for 11.
Amandeep Kaur then claimed four wickets in four balls to wreck the Vidarbha innings. They never recovered from blows and were bowled out for 125.
Amandeep finished with figures of 5/17.
Vidarbha finished with 8 points from five matches.
BRIEF SCORES
March 11, 2026: CAP Ground 2, Pondicherry
Toss: Vidarbha, elected to bowl
Haryana 255/6 in 50 overs (Deeya Yadav 58, Sonia Mendhiya 66, Sakshi Lohia 64; Aayushi Thakre 4/41)
Vidarbha 125 all out in 41.1 overs (Riddhima Maradwar 27, Trupti Lodhe 26; Amandeep Kaur 5/17)
Result: Vidarbha lost by 130 runs

BCCI Naman awards for Vidarbha’s Harsh Dubey, Yash Rathod, Ulhas Gandhe

Vidarbha stalwarts Harsh Dubey and Yash Rathod and senior umpire Ulhas Gandhe will be felicitated by the BCCI for their outstanding performance in domestic cricket in the 2024-25 season at BCCI Annual Awards Function — Naman 2024-25 — to be held in New Delhi on March 15, 2026.
Harsh Dubey will receive the Madhavrao Scindia Award for emerging as the highest wicket-taker in Vidarbha’s victorious Ranji Trophy campaign in 2024-25. Harsh captured a record 69 wickets in the Elite category.
Harsh will also receive the prestigious Lala Amarnath Award for being adjudged as the Best All-Rounder in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season.
Yash Rathod will receive the Madhavrao Scindia Award for emerging as highest run-getter in Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season. He accumulated a whopping 960 runs.
Ulhas Gandhe will receive the Best Umpire Award for his outstanding performance in domestic cricket in the 2024-25 season.
Apart from awarding the country’s top individual performers in international and domestic cricket, the BCCI will also honour the Indian Men’s team for winning the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 as well as the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
The Indian Women’s team, which won the ICC World Cup in 2025 and the U-19 Men’s team which won the World Cup in 2026 and U-19 Women’s team which won the World Cup in 2025, will also be felicitated at the function.

Vidarbha girls beat Jharkhand

Vidarbha defeated Jharkhand by 82 runs to register their second win in Elite Group C of the U23 Women’s One-Day Trophy in Pondicherry on Monday.
Vidarbha made 228/7 after being asked to bat first. Riddhima Maradwar top-scored with 64 while Mansi Pande made an unbeaten 57.
Jharkhand’s chase lacked momentum as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Aayushi Thakre claimed three wickets but Dhravi (2/18) was Vidarbha’s best bowler on the day.
Dharvi was, in fact on a hattrick after removing Manshi (23) and Khushbu. (0) but narrowly missed the landmark.
BRIEF SCORES
March 9, 2026: CAP Ground 3, Pondicherry
Toss: Jharkhand, elected to field
Vidarbha 228/7 in 50 overs (Arya Pongde 34, Riddhima Maradwar 64, Riddhi Naik 33, Mandi Pande 57 not out)
Jharkhand 146/9 in 50 overs (Vrishti Kumari 29 not out; Aayushi Thakre 3/43; Dharvi 2/18, Janhvi 2/20)
Result: Vidarbha won by 82 runs

Vidarbha coast to 9-wkt win

Vidarbha crushed Tripura by 9 wickets to register their maiden win in this season’s U23 Women’s One-Day Trophy in Pondicherry on Saturday.
Vidarbha bowled out Tripura for 155 and chased down the target in only 26.4 overs.
The chief architects of Vidarbha’s win were Arya Pongde and Riddhima Maradwar who shared an unfinished second-wicket stand of 143 runs off 145 balls.
Arya remained unbeaten on 89 off 83 balls. She hit 12 boundaries. Riddhima’s unbeaten 55 came off 69 balls with four fours.

BRIEF SCORES
March 7, 2026: CAP Ground 2, Pondicherry
Toss: Tripura, elected to bat
Tripura 155 all out 47.5 overs (Ambesha Das 44; Trupti Lodhe 2/23)
Vidarbha 156/1 in 26.4 overs (Arya Pongde 89 not out, Riddhima Maradwar 53 not out)
Result: Vidarbha won by 9 wickets

Vidarbha girls lose to TN

Arya Pondge’s 47 and Mansi Pande’s 48 went in vain as Vidarbha lost their Elite Group D match to Tamil Nadu in the U23 women’s one-day Trophy in Pondicherry on Thursday.
Vidarbha were bowled out for a mere 142 runs in 46 overs after being asked to bat first.
Barring Arya and Mansi’s 77-run partnership for the third wicket, Vidarbha innings lacked substance.
Tamil Nadu had no problem in chasing down the target for the loss of 5 wickets in 38.1 overs

BRIEF SCORES
March 5, 2026: Siechem Stadium, Pondicherry
Toss: TN, elected to bowl
Vidarbha 142 all out 46 overs (Arya Pongde 47, Mansi Pande 48; Akshara 3/27, Madhumitha 3/21)
Tamil Nadu 143/5 in 38.1 overs (Rinaaz 56 retd; Aayushi Thakre 2/23)
Result: Tamil Nadu won by 5 wkts.