Harsh Dubey keeps returning to the same word—discipline. The 22-year-old left-arm spinner harvested 69 wickets last season, the highest single-season haul in Ranji Trophy history, yet he insists the figures are only part of the story. Vidarbha, he says, win because they stay organised longer than everyone else.
‘I will not say [Vidarbha are the] strongest, because I feel that more than being the strongest, we have the most disciplined cricketers overall in India, because of our structure, our team bonding,’ Dubey explained on the sidelines of the CEAT Cricket Rating Awards in Mumbai. ‘So, I feel that because of the unity we play with, we defeat the strongest teams. This is my observation.’
The numbers back him up. Runners-up in 2023-24, champions in 2024-25 and now holders of a third Irani Cup after outmanoeuvring Rest of India earlier this month, Vidarbha have stitched together another golden run to add to the twin Ranji titles of 2017-18 and 2018-19. They have done it without marquee names, and, crucially, without losing their best bowlers to national duty every second week.
Dubey grew up in the Vidarbha pathway system; most of his team-mates did the same. That shared background forms the spine of the dressing room, he reckons.
‘See, honestly, the current lot that’s playing now, we have won at least 2-3 trophies in age-group cricket. So, we know that winning habit,’ he said. ‘And even the structure of our off-season camps in the VCA, it makes a lot of difference as to how strong your basics are.’
Usman Ghani, once the region’s Under-14 and Under-19 coach, now oversees the senior side. Continuity matters. ‘Because our coach, Usman Ghani, he was most of our players’ coach in U-14 or U-19. So, I think he has a very good understanding of the players – “who can be useful to me and when”.’
Support staff receive similar credit. ‘And even the role of of our backroom team, our trainers, our physios, their role is very important. So, I think we are getting the result of their hard work in the last 7-8 years.’
Success, however, has not translated into a flood of India caps. Umesh Yadav remains the only regular Test pick produced by the association in the past two decades. Karun Nair made a brief comeback last winter before returning to Karnataka; wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma has become a T20I option, more for his IPL consistency than domestic red-ball form.
Does the limited recognition frustrate the squad? Dubey shrugs. ‘I think it’s a matter of motivation. That just “this much” won’t do. You have to do more. So, if you think positively about this negative point, then I think you will have a mindset that will help you do even better.’
He points to middle-order mainstays Yash Rathod and Danish Malewar and to captain Akshay Wadkar, whose calm leadership has become a feature of Vidarbha’s last two finals. ‘So, I think the players who are doing well – like Yash Rathod is doing well, Danish Malewar is doing well, our skipper [Akshay Wadkar] is doing well – there are a lot of such players. So, if you keep doing well consistently. You will get an opportunity at some point.’
Replacing Nair, now back in Bengaluru club cricket, proved tricky. The management finally settled on R Samarth, formerly of Karnataka and most recently Uttarakhand. His compact technique should close the gap at No.3, though it leaves the top order slightly top-heavy with right-handers. The trade-off, coaches argue, is worthwhile: Samarth’s 4,500 first-class runs bring experience few squads can buy.
In the shorter term, Vidarbha’s focus is simple—bank early points ahead of the Christmas break. If they manage that, another post-season deep-run looks likely, because, well, discipline travels. And for now, Dubey and company seem quite happy to let the bigger, noisier teams chase adjectives like “strongest”, while they continue stacking trophies in silence.
