Due to this win, Vidarbha will take home INR 5 crore in prize money. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a prize money hike for all domestic tournaments in April 2023.

This amount is just INR 20 lakh less than the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 semi-finalists will receive. For the uninitiated, the losing semi-finalists of the eight-team tournament will receive $560,000 each, which translates roughly to INR 5.2 crore. On the other hand, Kerala will receive INR 3 crore as prize money for finishing as the runner-up.

The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 winner will receive a prize of $2.24 million ( ₹20.8 crore), and the runners-up will receive $1.12 million ( ₹10.4 crore).

Earlier, the Indian cricket board had substantially increased the prize money for all domestic tournaments for both men and women. The hike in men’s prize money ranges from 60 to 300 per cent, while the two women’s tournaments witnessed a hike in excess of 700 per cent.

How much was the prize money for Ranji Trophy winners earlier?

Earlier, the Ranji Trophy winners received INR 2 crore as a reward for winning the premier red-ball competition. However, it all changed in 2023 when the then BCCI secretary Jay Shah announced a revamp, hiking the prize money across all domestic competitions.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), he wrote, “I’m pleased to announce an increase in prize money for all @BCCI. Domestic Tournaments. We will continue our efforts to invest in Domestic Cricket – which is the backbone of Indian Cricket. Ranji winners to get ₹5 crores (from 2 cr), Sr Women winners ₹50 lacs (from 6 lacs).”

Returning to the Ranji Trophy final, Vidarbha skipper Akshay Wadkar said it had always been his dream to win the premier competition. In the final against Kerala, Vidarbha gained a first-innings lead of 37 runs, which proved to be decisive in the end.

“As a captain, if you’re playing the Ranji Trophy, I had a dream to lift it. Every first-class cricketer has that dream, and we’ve fulfilled that. We’re ticking all aspects,” he said before receiving the trophy from BCCI President Roger Binny.

For Vidarbha, Karun Nair was the standout performer in the first innings, scoring a century. The right-hander ended the season with 863 runs in nine matches, including four centuries and two fifties.

Earlier, Vidarbha had also reached the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, but the side stumbled in the summit clash against Karnataka.