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Rajneesh Gurbani

Rajneesh Gurbani is an Indian first-class cricketer who plays as a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He is associated with the Vidarbha cricket team in domestic cricket and came into prominence during Vidarbha's title-winning Ranji Trophy campaign in the 2017–18 season.

Key facts

Full name Rajneesh Gurbani
Nationality Indian
Role Bowler
Bowling style Right-arm medium-fast
Domestic team Vidarbha
Notable season Ranji Trophy 2017–18

Background

Gurbani is from Nagpur, Maharashtra, and progressed through age-group and club cricket in the Vidarbha region before earning a place in the senior Vidarbha squad. He is a seam bowler who relies on swing and accuracy rather than express pace.

Career

Gurbani made his first-class debut for Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy. He became a regular member of the Vidarbha bowling attack alongside players such as Umesh Yadav and Aditya Sarwate.

His most notable performances came in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy, when Vidarbha won the title for the first time in the team's history under captain Faiz Fazal and coach Chandrakant Pandit. Gurbani took a hat-trick in the semi-final against Karnataka and finished the tournament as one of the leading wicket-takers, earning recognition as a key contributor to the championship-winning side.

Vidarbha retained the Ranji Trophy in the 2018–19 season, with Gurbani continuing to feature in the bowling attack. He has also represented Vidarbha in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (List A) and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (Twenty20) competitions organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Significance

Gurbani's emergence is associated with the rise of Vidarbha as a competitive force in Indian domestic cricket, transforming the side from a traditional underperformer into back-to-back national champions. His hat-trick in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy semi-final remains one of the standout individual performances in the tournament's recent history.

References