CHENNAI: Sunday marked the beginning of the inter-state leg of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Express takes a look at how select teams have shaped up before the event that will also serve as an audition for the upcoming IPL auction.
Tamil Nadu
After a disappointing stint in this year’s Ranji Trophy, Tamil Nadu will be intent on making amends from Monday onwards. With Vijay Shankar at the helm again, the South Zone contingent will be looking to replicate their triple-trophy run that began at this event last season. Hopes for that will also be bolstered by the presence of Washington Sundar and Dinesh Karthik in their squad.
Andhra
Though they finished third in Group C and missed out from the Ranji knockouts, Andhra had quite a few performers — with both bat and ball — who will look to extend their run at this event. Skipper Hanuma Vihari, and Ricky Bhui were their stars with the willow, and they will look to combine with pacer Bandaru Ayyappa to better their previous unimpressive performance at the last edition.
Kerala
Yet another team that has a good bit of 20-over experience in all departments, despite their hit-and-miss (they finished fourth) campaign at the last iteration of this event. That lukewarm run, though, ended up catapulting speedster Basil Thampi to the big leagues, and saw Vishnu Vinod demonstrate his potential for big hits. They also have at their disposal the experience that the likes of veteran all-rounder Jalaj Saxena and former Delhi Daredevils regular Sanju Samson bring with them.
Hyderabad
They didn’t have a good time at both this year’s Ranji Trophy and at the last edition of this event (fourth in both cases). With J Arunkumar as coach (roped in by the team for this season), the side features the likes of Mohammed Siraj, Tanmay Agarwal, vice-captain Akshath Reddy and Pragyan Ojha, Speedster Chama Milind is perhaps the only glaring omission from their roster. Along with skipper Ambati Rayudu — who switched from Vidarbha to the team before the start of this season — the onus will fall on Agarwal to replicate his impressive showings from last time around.
Karnataka
They are the ostensible juggernauts of South Zone, irrespective of the number of overs or days allotted to them. Mayank Agarwal had a breakthrough season with the bat during this Ranji Trophy, being the sole person to breach the 1,000-run mark. Ravikumar Samarth proved to be an able ally to him, and the two will look to keep that purple patch going. Their bowling unit too held them in good stead till the semifinals, with skipper Vinay Kumar, Krishnappa Gowtham, and Abhimanyu Mithun being among the wickets. The last-time table-toppers have quite an arsenal, indeed.
Odisha
The East Zone team will be missing out on quite a few seniors like Govinda Poddar, Biplab Samantray and Basant Mohanty. With Anurag Sarangi as skipper, the young team will be intent on bettering their third-place finish from last time around.
Monday’s Fixtures
In Visakhaptnam: Goa vs Karnataka, Andhra vs Tamil Nadu.
In Vizianagaram: Kerala vs Hyderabad.
In Ranchi: Bengal vs Odisha.