Karun Nair Show Helps Vidarbha Lift 3rd Ranji Trophy Title After Draw With Kerala

Vidarbha have been crowned the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 champions after playing a draw against Kerala in the final. By virtue of their first innings lead, Karun Nair’s team has been declared as the winners.

Vidarbha Ride On Karun Nair Show Against Kerala

Vidarbha scored 379 and 375/9 in the first and second innings respectively while Kerala could only get the chance of batting once scoring 342 runs.

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It was a Karun Nair show, who once again attracted the BCCI selectors' attention with two valiant innings in the summit clash. Vidarbha were reeling for 24/3 at one point in the first innings. But it was the pair of Nair and youngster Danish Malewar who steadied the ship with a valuable partnership.

Nair proved to be a vital cog in the second innings too as Vidarbha was staring at another collapse with the scoreboard ticking at 7/2. He rode onto another partnership with Malewar and struck the rescue act with ease. He was dropped on 31 by Akshay Chandran and he went on to pile on 135 which proved to be the difference between the two.

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Harsh Dubey Broke Long Time Ranji Trophy Record

Vidarbha's Harsh Dubey was a major highlight as he now broke Ashutosh Aman’s record for most wickets in a single season. He registered a whopping 69 wickets in just 10 matches.

As quoted by ESPN Cricinfo, Harsh said, "It's a dream-come-true moment. We lost the final last year. Akshay bhai is retiring, so for him, it's a big thing. In the off-season, I worked on my fitness and skills. This is a result of all that. I have a simple plan: take it one game at a time. I try to bowl in the right areas. I wouldn't call myself a bowling allrounder; rather, I'm a batting allrounder. I love batting! The end goal is to play for India, and I don't want to complicate things thinking about it from now. I'll start [preparing] again soon."

Nair had a very curious relationship with Kerala. The Indian opener had approached the Kerala Cricket Association sensing he had fallen out of favour in his home state. But Kerala took their time to respond to his request and Nair decided to switch his allegiance to Vidarbha.