NEW DELHI: Defending champions Vidarbha on Tuesday brought back fast bowler Yash Thakur for their must-win Ranji Trophy clash against Uttar Pradesh, scheduled to be played from January 29.

The two-time champions are currently placed third in Elite Group A, behind table-toppers Andhra and Jharkhand.

With 25 points each from six matches, Vidarbha (1.578) trail Jharkhand (1.605) by a narrow margin and will need a top-two finish to seal a spot in the quarter-finals.

In their final group-stage fixture, Vidarbha will host Uttar Pradesh at their home venue, the VCA Stadium here.

Harsh Dubey will continue to captain the side, which suffered its first outright Ranji Trophy defeat in 16 matches when Andhra handed them an eight-wicket loss last week.

It was Vidarbha’s first loss since going down in the 2023–24 Ranji Trophy final, having remained unbeaten throughout their title-winning 2024–25 campaign.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Akshay Wadkar remains unavailable after sustaining a wrist injury during the league phase of Vidarbha’s triumphant Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign.

Squad: Harsh Dubey (c), Yash Rathod (vc), Atharva Taide, Aman Mokhade, Parth Rekhade, Nachiket Bhute, Darshan Nalkande, Praful Hinge, Yash Kadam, Shubham Kapse, Shivam Deshmukh (wk), Rohit Binkar (wk), Ganesh Bhosle, Aditya Thakare, Satyam Bhoyar, Danish Malewar, R Samarth, Yash Thakur.

(With PTI Inputs)