On the eve of Karnataka’s Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy pre-quarterfinals contest against Saurashtra, bowling coach Sreenath Arvind had emphasised on the potential of the squad’s bench strength.
Debutant Abhinav Manohar’s match-winning knock in the two-wicket victory was a perfect endorsement of the coach’s words. Against Bengal in the quarterfinals in New Delhi on Thursday, the focus again will be on the rookies realising their potential.
The former champions will be keen to set the record straight against Bengal, a team which beat them by seven wickets in their last league outing, denying them a direct berth in the last-8.
With their batting prowess matching their bowling firepower, Bengal will be tricky opponents and Karnataka will have to succeed as a team and not bank on individual performances.
To begin with, they will have to address their opening blues. Mayank Agarwal and Devdutt Padikkal failed to give the team a good start and with both the players on national duty, the new combination of Rohan Kadam and BR Sharath too did not click against Saurashtra. Although the Karnataka batting line-up is replete with talent and experience, they haven’t combined to deliver consistently.
Against Bengal, the onus will be on skipper Manish Pandey and Karun Nair to hold the batting order together. While Abhinav calmed the middle-order nerves in the previous outing, Aniruddha Joshi’s form will remain a cause for concern with the big hitter returning a mere 60 runs in six matches. Karnataka could be tempted to bring in some experience with KV Siddharth and R Samarth on the bench.
The bowling unit has been at the heart of Karnataka’s campaign in the tournament. A relatively new set-up with most of them finding berths in the playing XI, the bowlers have delivered the goods.
Medium-pacer V Koushik, who did not find a place among the probables but was brought in as replacement for Prasidh Krishna, surprisingly wavered with his line and length against Saurashtra. But bowling in tandem has been their strength and Vyshak Vijaykumar, Vidhyadhar Patil, KC Cariappa and J Suchith made up for Koushik’s errors.
Spinners Cariappa and Suchith, in particular, bowled their hearts out on a surface which offered them little purchase. Having restricted Saurashtra to a below-par score on a strip with no demons, they will eye a repeat show against Bengal.
Bengal, coming off a week’s break, will be fresh but new to the conditions. Sudip Chatterjee, Ritwik Roy Chowdhury and Shreevats Goswami will form the crux of the batting order. Medium-pacer Mukesh Kumar will lead the bowling attack with left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed, Akash Deep and Praditpa Pramanik being the vital cogs. Bengal will miss the services of Abhimanyu Easwaran and Wriddhiman Saha, who are on national duty.
