NAGPUR: Physiotherapist Niraj Karamchandani, the last personnel of the support staff who was key in Vidarbha's successive Ranji Trophy triumphs, has decided to part ways with the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) after a four-year long stint.
Niraj, who had established a robust injury management system, is all set to join the Punjab Ranji team with a better pay package. He is set to be replaced by Nitin Khurana, who is currently with the under-23 team.
It is learnt that Neeraj was happy with the VCA and the set-up here. However, he never received the compensation he desired.
Neeraj will leave the city on Thursday for his new assignment. His absence will leave a big void ahead of the season.
The advantage of promoting Khurana is that his association with maximum juniors in the senior team is of more than 6-8 years. Khurana had worked with the under-19 team eight years ago before handling the under-23 squad.
The VCA just obliged with the resignation without much discussion. "We accepted his resignation as he got a good opportunity. How can we stop if someone is getting a better opportunity? We know things without him will be a bit tricky now. But players will have to accept it," said a source in VCA.
VCA has given a 50-100% pay hike to other support staff across age groups in the last couple of years. However, that was not the case with Niraj.
When Niraj arrived, he had big shoes of ex-physio Ashish Agrawal to fill. A lot was expected from him and he delivered as experienced coaches like Paras Mhambrey and Chandrakant Pandit wanted.
He had a good partner in trainer Amiya Mohanti, who left VCA exactly a year ago. The duo played a key role in making sure seniors like Wasim Jaffer, Faiz Fazal, Akshay Wakhare, Aditya Sarwate - architects of title victories - were match ready in both the seasons.
"Niraj dealt with the players so well that he became the favourite doctor of the squad. He gelled well with coach Pandit and Mohanti in both the years when Vidarbha won the title," the source added.
