Vidarbha Create History with Maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy Title

Vidarbha cricket team finally got their hands on the Vijay Hazare Trophy for the first time after beating the two-time champions by 38 runs in the final at BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 1, Bengaluru, on Sunday, January 18.

For the unversed, Vidarbha cricket team had been a dominant side in the red-ball circuit, but became the Vijay Hazare Trophy winner for the first time. They were heartbroken last season after losing the final match against Karnataka, but this time, they rose to the occasion and denied history from repeating itself.

Vidarbha Emerge as Vijay Hazare Trophy Winner

The Vidarbha vs Saurashtra final was always expected to be a thriller as both sides have been fantastic throughout the tournament. Saurashtra won the toss and asked Vidarbha to bat first, after which they posted a total of 317 runs in 50 overs. Atharva Taide was the star of the innings, who played a match-defining knock of 128 runs and helped Vidarbha to put up a decent total on the scoreboard.

At one moment, it looked like Vidarbha would cross the 350-run mark; however, Saurashtra bowlers made a terrific comeback in the final overs of the innings and restricted the opposition to 317. The VID vs SAU Vijay Hazare Trophy final was at an interesting stage during the halfway mark.

Chasing the target, Saurashtra started horribly, losing both their openers on just 30 runs. Prerak Mankad and Chirag Jani raised the expectations in the Saurashtra campaign with a 93-run stand for the fifth wicket. However, Vidarbha captain Harsh Dubey took the matter into his own hands and dismissed Mankad on 88 runs. It was the game-changing moment of the match as Saurashtra were bundled out for just 279 runs, thus losing the match by 38 runs. As a result, Vidarbha emerged as VHT 2026 winner for the first time.

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 Stats and Records

The Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 saw multiple instances of individual brilliance throughout the season. However, Vidarbha's Aman Mokhade stood out as the Player of the Series after ending up being the highest run-scorer with 814 runs in 10 matches at an average of 90.44.

Karnataka's Devdutt Padikkal sits at the No. 2 position with 725 runs in nine matches at an average of 90.62 and showed why he is considered one of the best batsmen in India. Mokhade is also the batter with the most No. of centuries in this season, smashing a total of five centuries, followed by Padikkal again, who scored four centuries.

On the bowling front, Saurashtra's right-arm pacer, Ankur Panwar, topped the rankings with a total of 25 wickets in 10 matches at an average of 21.32, including a five-wicket haul. Uttar Pradesh's Zeeshan Ansari sits at No. 2 with 21 wickets in just eight matches. Maharashtra's Ramakrishna Ghosh had the best bowling figures in the season, 7/42 against Himachal Pradesh.