CHENNAI: The silverware in the previous 10 editions of the Ranji Trophy, has been won by six teams. Rajasthan, Karnataka, Mumbai and Vidarbha have claimed it twice each with Gujarat and Saurashtra completing the roll of honour. What made these teams champion sides were consistency, teamwork and more importantly the hunger for success. Individually too some of the players from these teams have scripted success stories internationally.
In the case of Karnataka, who won the tournament back-to-back in 2013-14 and 2014-15, a clutch of players have gone on to wear the India colours. But in the six editions after their last landmark win, the six-time champions have failed to make it to the final. In this truncated edition, they face an uphill task of breaking the duck. In the four-team elite groups, every point matters and Karnataka have fallen behind, having settled for a draw against Railways in their opening fixture. Jammu and Kashmir top the table with a win against Pondicherry.
The equation will weigh heavily on Manish Pandey & Co when they take on J&K in the second league outing at the Chemplast Cricket Ground, starting here on Wednesday.
The last time the two teams met was in the quarterfinals of the 2019-2020 edition, which Karnataka won by 167 runs in Jammu.
"We've played them before and beaten them in Jammu. That said, we are not looking at what the opposition did in the previous match or what the result was when we last faced them. Instead, our focus is on doing well as a team in the match on hand," said Pandey.
There are amends to make from the match against Railways. Karnataka will have to up their bowling, pace in particular and also play with more aggression. In the opener, Karnataka failed to push for a win on the last day but Pandey justified the move.
"We batted really well to get some quick runs in the first innings. I'm happy with the batsmen although I feel some of them will have to step up. The plan was to declare around lunch on the final day. We just wanted to be safe in terms of the runs we had to defend. If we had got an outright win, it would have been great but it wasn't that kind of a wicket," Pandey conceded.
On a track which is dry and expected to assist the spinners as the match progresses, J&K will rely on the experience of off-spinner Parvez Rasool to trouble Karnataka's batting order. The seasoned Ram Dayal and a young Umran Malik will lead the opposition's pace attack.
Karnataka will make at least two changes to their line-up with Mayank Agarwal, who is back on national duty, likely to be replaced by Karun Nair and one of the rookie pacers – Vyshak Vijaykumar and Vidhyadhar Patil – making way for Prasidh Krishna.
The return of Prasidh will be a huge boost. With Ronit More, Prasidh adds experience and bite to the attack.
Admitting the pace attack is undercooked, Pandey pointed out, "A few of the fast bowlers are graduating into the senior team, so the cricket might be a little more demanding for them. It is good to have Prasidh back in the team, he adds to our bowling strength."
With the bat, Karnataka's expertise runs deep with Pandey, Samarth and KV Siddharth among runs in the opener. But what will be crucial is the form of Devdutt Padikkal at the top.
