NAGPUR: Vidarbha's most successful coach Usman Ghani is known for churning out big results. He has been doing so since 2013-14 when he first won the under-14 Rajsingh Dungarpur Trophy for Vidarbha. From there, he just mastered the art of coming out successful in high-pressure finals. In the last six years, he has been the under-19 coach and Vidarbha have played five finals and won 3 of them including Sunday's triumph over Punjab in Vinoo Mankad Trophy.
What helped Vidarbha win the title was Ghani's rich experience, his gelling with trainer Harshal Baniya, whom Ghani has seen grow at Ruby Club, and the experience of 10+ players in the squad who have been a part of the team from the last couple of seasons.
Vidarbha have seen what a good coordination with a trainer can do when they won two Ranji Trophy titles. In the under-23 circuit too, the combination of Ranjit Paradkar and Mohd. Hashim has done well.
The story just got an extension on Sunday. The men behind the scenes - Ghani and Baniya - were instrumental in efficiently handling the long pre-season camp. They planned the skills and strengthening sessions in such a way that all players were available for the big stage.
"Ghani's style of working silently and letting his work do the talking goes well with VCA. Have you seen him ever coming in front? He just knows how to take the best out of players. Results are in front of us," said a senior VCA official after the triumph.
Vidarbha boys produced some handsome performances under pressure especially in the knockouts. The knack of handling pressure comes from experience. There are around 10-12 boys in the team who will be over-age from the next season and are playing under Ghani since the last three years. "Their experience on the field and Ghani's off the field helped in decimating rivals," VCA official said.
Out of the box move
VCA, for the first time, decided to replicate the model of Ranji Trophy for Ghani's boys. VCA is known for inviting other associations to play with Ranji probables. This time, they invited Mumbai to play with Vidarbha in the lead up to the Vinoo Mankad Trophy. They played a couple of matches against Mumbai, who arrived with a full-strength squad.
Young selectors: Vivek Naidu bring in new thoughts
The young and new selectors in Vivek Naidu and Ruchit Bhalla brought in new thoughts in the very first year of their term as selectors. Naidu, an experienced Ranji player, was playing Guzder League 'A' until recently. He has seen many players in Guzder and Dorairajan Tournament when he used to play and it is helping him in his new role. Both Bhalla and Naidu were particular about squad set-up and it helped the team.
