NAGPUR: The cold wave in the northern states has majorly impacted the outcome of matches played at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The script of the matches has been dominated by pacers, especially in the morning. The lively grass on the pitches topped-up with heavy dews in the morning is likely to give advantage to any outfit that wins the toss when Vidarbha take on Saurashtra in the quarterfinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Wednesday.
The toss was crucial in all the seven encounters of the tournament played at the stadium. On six occasions, the team that bowled first finished on top. Only Vidarbha won while defending but they were benefited by 5-6 dropped catches against Tripura in the prequarterfinals.
With the focus on toss, Vidarbha would want their young pace attack led by tournament's highest wicket-taker with 18 wickets, Yash Thakur, to stick to the plan. Thakur and Darshan Nalkande have formed a perfect combo that can unsettle any rival. Thakur, in particular, has been the vital cog in Vidarbha's progress.
The Faiz Fazal-led Vidarbha will come out all guns blazing after their Sunday's win against Tripura despite being put into bat. Faiz would like to improve on his form especially when his team would face the likes of left armers Jaydev Unadkat and Chetan Sakariya. A lot would also depend on how in-form opener Atharva Taide deals with the Saurashtra pace duo.
In Vidarbha's first-ever quarterfinals of the tournament, the in-form middle-order comprising Ganesh Satish, Yash Rathod, Akshay Wadkar and Apoorv Wankhede will need to put a good price to their wicket.
Saurashtra, who were unbeaten in the league stage, would look to continue the winning momentum. They boast of several aggressive batters like Sheldon Jackson, Prerak Mankad, Arpit Vasavada, Samarth Vyas, Chirag Jani and young wicket-keeper Harvik Desai. If they fire in unison, they can bring any attack on their knees.
