NAGPUR: Even before the start of Vijay Hazare Trophy, Vidarbha suffered a big jolt when two prominent players—a batsman and a pace bowler—tested positive on Friday. TOI chose not to mention the names of both players.
After the announcement of the extended squad, which had 22 players and three standbys, players were asked to quarantine on Thursday and their Covid-19 tests were conducted. Unfortunately, Vidarbha lost out on two players.
Left-handed Shubham Dubey, who has been in great form, has been added to the squad along with Saurabh Dubey, who was included in the final list for the Indian Premier League 2021 auction.
Shubham has been a consistent performer in the local circuit but hasn’t been given a look-in for some reason. He was among the top five run-scorers in the recently-concluded Guzder Lague ‘A’ Division one-day tournament. Shubham scored 469 runs, including three fifties, at a healthy average of 78.17 with a strike rate of 88.99.
On the other hand, Saurabh was part of the Mumbai Indians during the last edition of IPL as a net bowler. Vidarbha will leave for Indore on Saturday morning, where the whole squad will be quarantined for five days. They will have just a couple of practice sessions before their opening match against Andhra Pradesh.
Madhya Pradesh (February 22), Jharkhand (February 24), Punjab (February 26) and Tamil Nadu (February 28) are the other teams in the Elite Group ‘B’.