MYSURU: For a period of time on Sunday afternoon, the sun was involved in an awkward dance with cloudy skies. The earth below was wet. After a point, though, there were no real winners before dusk fell on Mysuru.
For Karnataka, though, they would want the storm clouds to clear — the forecast is for some rain during their third Ranji Trophy match of the season, scheduled to begin at the SNRW Cricket Stadium on Monday — for multiple reasons. After a lacklustre start to their domestic red-ball campaign, they are already in a precarious position.
With just two points in as many games — they lost vital points against both Saurashtra and Andhra as they didn’t take the first innings lead — they are languishing in sixth place on the points table in Group B. One more misstep and it could well be curtains.
It’s why their game against Tripura gives them a chance to gain momentum ahead of stiffer tests in the weeks ahead. Captain Shreyas Gopal, during his pre-match address to the media, said: “(The) thought process for a Karnataka team is always to win. Unfortunately, we missed out on two points in both the games, but I was extremely proud of the way we put them (the opposition) on batting-friendly wickets, I would say. We are giving ourselves a chance. That karma, that good effort, will show in the games to follow.”
That’s fighting talk, but last season’s beaten finalists find themselves in this situation because they haven’t capitalised on the biggest moments in both games. In the first game against Andhra, the hosts were placed precariously at 5/116 in the first innings. However, the lack of penetrative bowling cost them dear as they allowed a 202-run stand for the sixth wicket in Andhra’s first innings.
It was a similar story in the second match against Saurashtra. They twice had the visitors on the mat, but Saurashtra eked out a narrow first-innings lead of seven; enough for the two extra points. So it’s fair to say that their bowlers need to have a bigger say going forward.
But before talking about the bowling group, the focus ought to be on the batting department. With KL Rahul, R Smaran and Devdutt Padikkal all on national duty, they have had to hunt for options or get creative. In the second game, Aneesh KV’s twin fifties could be the platform the batting group may need. It’s a slightly brittle-looking middle-order which is why the onus will have to be on the likes of Karun Nair and Mayank Agarwal to set the team up when it’s their turn to bat.
The venue traditionally favours batters with spin coming into focus over the last few days but Karnataka are yet to take a decision on the team combination. “The wicket looks good,” Gopal said. “We will maybe decide on that (extra pacer or extra spinner) tonight (Sunday night) or tomorrow morning (Monday).” After a slow start to the season because of an injury, expect both V Vyshak, Vidwath Kaverappa and Gopal to form the crux of the bowling line-up. All-rounder Manvanth Kumar, whose timely 100 saved their bacon in the last match, should also keep his place in the XI.
Even though Tripura has suffered two outright losses so far, Gopal wasn’t about to take them lightly. “It's not like we have lost the matches,” the skipper said. “It's just the lead that was gone and the way we have come back, we have put more pressure on them (on the opposition) in the second half of the games. Yes, we should have got the lead, especially in the last match against Saurashtra. That 35-40 runs, we lost a couple of tricks there, but coming into this game, if we can put some early pressure on this team, we can slide our way through for our first win.”
If they aren’t able to achieve those ambitions, this could be a long, hard season.
Select matches: Group B: At Mulapadu: Chhattisgarh vs Andhra; At Secunderabad: Hyderabad vs Punjab; At Mysuru: Karnataka vs Tripura. Group C: At Ranchi: Jharkhand vs Delhi; At Bhubaneswar: Odisha vs Services; At Mangalapuram: Kerala vs Bengal. Group D: At Chennai: Tamil Nadu vs Railways.