Ranji Trophy: Mumbai dance to Carnatic music

R Vinay Kumar, who had claimed a hat-trick in the first innings, was declared Man of the Match for his match-haul of eight wickets.
Vinay Kumar of Karnataka | PTI
Vinay Kumar of Karnataka | PTI

NAGPUR: Karnataka have been one of the most dominant sides in the current Ranji Trophy season. But what the team achieved on Sunday probably established the fact that they are the ones to beat this year.
They stamped their authority by handing domestic giants Mumbai a crushing innings and 20-run defeat in the quarterfinal at the VCA Stadium. This was Mumbai’s fifth innings defeat in the event.

Vinay Kumar on a high | PTI
Vinay Kumar on a high | PTI

It was a comeback of sorts for the side that, after winning in 2013-14 and 2014-15, exited in the group stage and quarterfinals in the next two seasons. The sun was still shining at around 3 pm, with about 20 overs left for the day, when off-spinner K Gowtham (who recorded a six-for) grabbed the last wicket to hit the final nail in Mumbai’s coffin.

Karnataka skipper R Vinay Kumar, who had destroyed Mumbai in the first innings with a hat-trick, was declared Man of the Match for his match-haul of eight wickets.

If the performance of Karnataka is analysed, it’ll be safe to say that they have ticked all the right boxes. Veteran CM Gautam had a dry run, but that too ended with his attacking 71 in this match. “I feel that Karnataka has been the strongest domestic team for the last four-five years. They won back to back titles, which was great. In this game too, they were phenomenal,” said former international Rohan Gavaskar in agreement.

So, are there still concerns in the team at the moment? Vinay’s reply showed that he is a thinking captain. “There are many things we need to work on. The aim for any of our bowling pairs is to make scoring difficult. It worries me a little because it does not work many times. The plan is working in patches because sometimes one does good, but the other leaks runs. I think we need to work on that.”

With Karnataka’s top-order firing, bowlers hunting in packs, and lower-order contributing consistently, is the management worried about Karun Nair, who has found himself struggling with the bat in his last few innings? He managed only 16 in this clash. “He is a big-game player. And we have no doubts that he will do well in the next match,” said Vinay.

Thrashing the 41-time champions by an innings is a feat that comes once in a blue moon for any domestic team. Mumbai are also known to register remarkable comebacks.

Having successfully denied his opposition chance to fight back, Vinay said, “We made sure of that. While batting, we did not give them any chance. In their second innings, we thought they might come hard at us. But when we saw their approach, we thought we should just concentrate on bowling in the right areas.”

vishal@newindianexpress.com

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