BENGALURU: There will be a rare sight when Karnataka face Pondicherry in the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarterfinal on Sunday. Vinay Kumar, who had made this venue his home after serving the state for 15 years, will be in Pondicherry colours.“Never thought I would play against Karnataka. I can recollect so many emotional moments. I left Karnataka to give chances to youngsters and so soon I am playing against them,” said Vinay. After having led Karnataka with distinction, Vinay will be keen to mastermind an upset. Former Karnataka coach J Arun Kumar is in charge of Pondicherry. They will be aware of Karnataka’s strengths and weaknesses.
Karnataka have been one of the top sides in the competition, without many noticeable loopholes. Pondicherry need solid plans against Manish Pandey (505 runs in 8 matches) and Devdutt Padikkal (456 in 8). With KL Rahul also amongst the runs, Vinay has to make early inroads. He is not been the star bowler for Pondicherry. Pacer Sagar Trivedi, left-arm spinner Sagar Udeshi and medium-pacer AR Sanganakal have scalped 17 wickets each.
“It’s a bit of an advantage because you know the Karnataka players well. We have plans, but execution will be important. We will stick to our strengths. We need to bowl good areas and hope for best,” said Vinay.If the away team can resort to their knowledge of Karnataka, Pandey’s men are also doing their homework.
They have contacted Group D teams, who have played against Pondicherry, to have better understanding of their opponents. Karnataka are favourites by a mile, but this does not mean Pondicherry can be rolled over.“We are not taking them lightly. We have spoken to the players in the team about it. We have played good and strong cricket in this competition and that needs to be done again,” said Karnataka bowling coach Sreenath Aravind.