Yash Rathod is the most successful batter in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season with 960 runs from 18 innings including three fifties and five big hundreds. The 24-year-old has proved vital for Vidarbha time and again this season as they close in on a third Ranji title.
In the second Group B match against Puducherry, they were ambling at 4/3 when Rathod walked in. Last season’s runners-up went from there to 14/4 to 79/5 but managed to end up 283 all out. Rathod stemmed the bleeding from one end and forged partnerships while hitting a patient 118. It proved to be the difference on a bowler-friendly surface in Puducherry where Vidarbha earned a 120-run victory.
In the next match, they were on the verge of another implosion at 64/3. Rathod put on another rescue act with 135. It included a fourth-wicket partnership of 117 runs with Danish Malewar. By the time Rathod departed as the ninth wicket, his team was already safe at 316 runs in the first innings. They went on to win the match by 266 runs.
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This soon became the trend for Vidarbha and Rathod as the season progressed. They finished the group stage undefeated with just a single draw from seven games. Rathod already had two half-centuries and three hundreds. He fell short of a fourth by just two runs.
It was also a testament to the left-hander’s growth from last season to the current one, just like Vidarbha who went from a good team to a relentless force in domestic cricket. Rathod had missed out on a spot in the Duleep Trophy last season because he struck out on reaching three figures too many times – three times to be precise. His total of 490 runs from six matches including a 141 in the semifinal against Madhya Pradesh was purposeful, but not good enough.
Working with Vidarbha coach Usman Ghani, Rathod had to fix his weakness outside the off-stump which had cost him dearly. There was also the need to tweak his mindset to the fundamentals of red-ball batsmanship.
“I now only think about the next ball and nothing else, talking to myself after every delivery,” Rathod had told Sportstar in a recent interview.
Things turned around drastically as Rathod replied with intent every time his team was put in a tough situation. When they needed to set a target for a confident Tamil Nadu side in the quarterfinal, Vidarbha lost four wickets for 99. The southpaw patiently batted with the tail to set a target of 401 while getting to a score of 112 and departing as the final wicket.
When it came to the rematch of last season’s final with Mumbai in this season’s semifinal, Rathod was up to the task with a 54 in the first innings. He then took the game out of Mumbai’s hands with a match-defining 151 that got them to set a mammoth target of 405.
There were many near-misses for Rathod in his budding career. He was the 12th man for Vidarbha for the majority of two seasons despite being in the squad since 2021. Rathod was on the verge of playing in the 2020 U-19 World Cup after an impressive List A debut in 2019. He missed out on winning the Vijay Hazare Trophy a month ago, after scoring 116 in the semifinal against Maharashtra. Overall, he made 406 runs at an average of 67.
As Vidarbha march towards their third Ranji title with a 300-plus lead against Kerala in the final, Rathod looks like he will finally get his hands on silverware and experience the feeling of finishing at the top.
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