×
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Karnataka eye strong start

Champions begin hat-trick quest with a clash against Assam
Last Updated 30 September 2015, 17:48 IST

It’s a tribute to Karnataka’s bench strength that despite missing three of their key players — two (Stuart Binny and S Arvind) due to their presence in the Senior National team and another (KL Rahul) because of an injury — they are still regarded the best team by their opponents.

While the Vinay Kumar-led side -- which kicks off its defence of Ranji Trophy title against Assam here at the impressive-looking Barsapara Stadium from Thursday -- would have been even more formidable by having the services of the aforementioned trio, they appear little flustered at the prospect of not having them at their disposal. If anything, they would be thinking it’s a blessing in disguise for they would have had to leave out players that other teams would have rolled a red carpet for.

The Karnataka squad for the season opener has four players who have played for India and another who was drafted into the Test squad. While this indicates the quality and experience in their ranks, there is a wealth of young talent that is waiting to explode. Opener Mayank Agarwal, who would have been an unlikely starter had Rahul been available, is in the form of his life though most of his big runs in recent weeks have come in the shorter formats.

Another opener R Samarth found a firm footing in the last season with a bucketful of runs as he made most of Rahul’s absence due to his India commitments. The 21-year-old Abhishek Reddy, who comes on the back of a prolific season, is another batsman to watch out for while the left-handed Shishir Bhavane adds to the multitude of options that Karnataka boast of at the moment.

And to think that we haven’t even come to the cream of Karnataka batting — Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Karun Nair and CM Gautam — reflects the team’s bottomless batting resources. Shreyas Gopal’s steady rise as a quality batsman, besides his more-than-handy leg-spinners, has added another dimension to the team. His ability to switch gears and absorb pressure in the event of a top-order collapse, which he amply demonstrated last season on more than one occasion, has allowed Karnataka to play with three-two bowling combination on most occasions.

Vinay, the highest wicket-taker in the last season, will once again spearhead one of the finest pace attacks in the country. While the wily customer will remain the lynchpin of the bowling group, A Mithun and HS Sharath will not be restricted to just playing the support cast. Prasidh Krishna, the new pace sensation, may have to wait for his turn to come but left-arm spinner J Suchith looks all set for his Ranji debut. The 21-year-old will link up with Shreyas to form the spin unit on a pitch that is likely to demand plenty of patience from the bowlers.

Assam do realise Karnataka’s bowling might and the hosts are unlikely to come up with something that will test their inexperienced batting unit. That said, Assam stretched Karnataka to five days in the quarterfinal at Indore before the defending champions advanced by virtue of first innings lead. This was one of the very few ‘tough’ matches that Karnataka had to endure on their way to title last season. And that’s something Assam coach K Sanath Kumar, a former Karnataka seamer, draws confidence from.

Assam have also roped in left-handed middle-order batsman Amit Verma. The former Karnataka batsman, who played for Kerala last season, will form the core of home team’s batting along with Tamil Nadu imports skipper D Gokul Krishna and KB Arun Karthick and Sorupam Purkayastha.

Well aware of their limitations, Assam will be happy to make things hard for Karnataka while the visitors will be keen for a winning start to set the right tone to their dream of completing a hat-trick of titles.

The squads (from):
Assam: D Gokul Krishna (capt), Tejinder Singh, Abu Nechim Ahmed, J Syed Mohammed, KB Arun Karthick (wk), Amit Verma, Sib Sankar Roy, Pallav Kumar Das, Sorupam Purkayastha, Krishna Das, Arup Das, Pritam Das, Amit Sinha, Kunal Sakia and Bikash Chetri.

Karnataka: R Vinay Kumar (capt), R Samarth, Mayank Agarwal, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Karun Nair, CM Gautam (wk), Shreyas Gopal , A Mithun, J Suchith, HS Sharath, Shishir Bhavane, Abhishek Reddy, Prasidh Krishna and Udit Patel.

Umpires: Nitin Pandith (Vidarbha) and Rajesh Deshpande (Mumbai); Match referee: Prakash Bhat (Saurashtra).

Hours of play: 08.45 to 11.15; 11-55 to 13.55; 14.15 to close of play

ADVERTISEMENT
(Published 30 September 2015, 17:48 IST)

Follow us on

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT