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Over 100 prizes and cash awards worth Rs 16.5 lakh were given away by the VCA at a glittering Annual Awards Function held at the Bilimoria Hall, Civil Lines, Nagpur, on Saturday.
Top individual performers as well as champions and runners-up of various local tournaments, organized by the VCA in the past three seasons, were rewarded for their feats. The function was held after three years because the action on the field was heavily curtailed in 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons because of pandemic-related restrictions.
VCA’s former President, Mr Adwait Manohar, presided over the function as the Chief Guest and gave away the prizes.
VCA president Justice Vinay M. Deshpande (Retd), welcomed the gathering and urged the players to give their best on the field and assured them that the Association will continue to support them in every possible way.
The VCA president presented a memento to his predecessor, Mr Manohar for his support and guidance to the Association.
The loudest cheers were reserved for Vidarbha’s senior team player Jitesh Sharma, who was felicitated by the Association for his selection in the Indian squad during the T20I home series against Sri Lanka as well as India’s T20 squad for the upcoming Asian Games.
Jitesh received a memento from Mr Manohar, who also felicitated Ms Ankita Guha, who is the first woman umpire from Vidarbha to be inducted in the BCCI panel.
Young Danish Malewar received the Best Junior Cricketer of the Year award for playing a starring role in Vidarbha’s U-19 boys’ team which won a double crown in the 2022-23 domestic season.
Ms Ashwini Deshmukh was awarded the Best Junior Cricketer of the Year in the women’s category.
Former India pacer Prashant Vaidya, who is the Chairman of VCA’s Cricket Development Committee, had a special word of praise for players from the districts, many of whom have broken into various age-group teams of Vidarbha.
Also present on the occasion were VCA Vice-President Dr Avinash Deshmukh, Hon. Secretary Mr Sanjay Badkas, Hon. Joint-Secretary Mt Chandrakant Manke, Hon. Treasurer CA Arjun Phatak, and Executive Committee members Adv. Anand Deshpande, Mr Nitesh Upadhyay and Mr Samir Gujar (Tournament Committee Chairman).
