Bharati Vij (born 9 January 1967) is a former Indian first-class

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er who played for

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

. After retirement, he became an umpire and also started a cricket academy.

Career

Vij made his first-class debut for Punjab in the 1987/88 season. He came to the limelight in

1992–93 Ranji Trophy The 1992–93 Ranji Trophy was the 59th season of the Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy (also known as Mastercard Ranji Trophy for sponsorship reasons) is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams repres ...

which Punjab won, by finishing as the highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 49 scalps at an average of 17.55. He took 6/61 and 3/33 in the final against Maharashtra at Ludhiana, leading Punjab to a 120-run victory and their maiden Ranji title. In the following Ranji season, Vij took 38 wickets at 14.05 including five five-wicket hauls and two ten-wicket hauls to finish as the third-highest wicket-taker. Playing for North Zone in the 1994/95 Duleep Trophy, he took most number of wickets in the tournament (20). He finished with the most wickets in the following year's Duleep Trophy as well, with 26 wickets at 24.03. He was the second highest wicket-taker in 1996–97 Ranji Trophy with 53 wickets at 20.26 including six five-wicket hauls and three

ten-wicket haul In cricket, a ten-wicket haul occurs when a bowler takes ten wickets in either a single innings or across both innings of a two-innings match. The phrase ten wickets in a match is also used. Taking ten wickets in a match at Lord's earns the bowle ...

s. With the emergence of

Harbhajan Singh Harbhajan Singh (born 3 July 1980) is a member of parliament in Rajya Sabha and an Indian retired cricketer and cricket commentator, who played for the Indian national cricket team from 1998 - 2016. Singh was a right-arm spin bowler. In India ...

and Navdeep Singh, the 1997/98 season turned out to be the last for Vij despite finishing as his team's leading wicket-taker in that season's Ranji Trophy. After retirement, Vij took up umpiring. In 2000, he became an on-field umpire for club cricket matches, before becoming a first-class and List A umpire in 2008. He also worked as the spin bowling coach for Punjab. A cricket academy was started in

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which a ...

called Bharati Vij Cricket Academy.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vij, Bharati 1967 births Living people Indian cricketers Punjab, India cricketers North Zone cricketers Indian cricket umpires