Nagpur, April 15
Vidarbha's talented cricketer Atharva Taide who basically belongs to Akola has reached the United Kingdom for his maiden county stint on Thursday.
He has been signed by the Lancaster Cricket Club for the Northern Cricket League in England. Talking to Lokmat Times from the United Kingdom after landing there Taide said, “ The country stint will definitely help me in my career. Coming out of home conditions will be very challenging for me. I will learn some new things here. That will ultimately help me to improve my game. It well
Taide who has played five first class matches for Vidarbha and scored 248 runs with an average of 41.33 said his first target will be to adapt with the weather conditions in the UK. “ My first task is to adapt myself with the prevailing conditions here. Since I am an opener , my focus will be to play long innings as much possible” Atharva will remain quarantined for a week before he starts the practice.
It can be mentioned here that Taide has been known for his match winning performances for Vidarbha. A technically gifted and correct left handed batsman, Taide rose through the junior ranks at Vidarbha. In the 2017-18 season he led the Vidarbha under 19 team to victory in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy and finished the second highest run scorer with 405 runs in just five matches . In the same season he led Vidarba to victory in the Cooch Behar trophy scoring 690 runs in nine matches which included a devastating 320 in the final against Madhya Pradesh. He became only the second player in the history of the tournament to score a triple century after Indian great Yuvraj Singh.
In the 2017-18 season he represented the Indian Under 19 team for the Asia cup held in Malaysia. Later that season he represented India in the bilateral series held in Sri Lanka. He scored back to back in the test series against Sri Lanka. He was voted the best batsman in the series and one of his centuries was the fastest century in a youth test match by an Indian player and the second fastest in the world.
In the 2018-19 season Taide made his first class debut for Vidarbha where he finished the leading List A run scorer with a best of 148 not out. Later that year he represented the Indian under 23 side in the Emerging Asia cup where India finished runners up. He continued to male his mark at first class level scoring a valuable match winning 78 to steer his side home against the Rest of India in the Irani trophy. This performance under huge pressure saw Vidarbha secure the title.
Box
Good to play county cricket: Gandhe
Vidarbha senior coach Pritam Gandhe has appreciated Taide's decision to play country cricket . Talking to Lokmat Times he said, “ When cricket is not happening in India due to pandemic, it is good for him to play there. If he scores runs there then it will help us in next season”. Gandhe also said it will be an added responsibility on his shoulder to play as a professional cricketer for the county team. “ When you play as a professional cricketer, the team has some expectations from you. Therefore you have to play with a lot of responsibility”.