CHENNAI:The Ranji Trophy final beginning Tuesday is filled with narratives attached to both sides. While Jammu & Kashmir — on the back of giant-killings of Delhi, Bengal and Madhya Pradesh en route to their maiden final — look to round off their fairytale season by winning their first Ranji title, eight-time winners Karnataka will look to consolidate their position as one of the domestic powerhouses of Indian cricket. They play their 15th Ranji final, their first in 11 years. In fact, four in the current squad — KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Gopal — were part of the team which last won the title in 2015.
Karnataka head coach Yere Goud, in his second stint, finally guided his team to a Ranji Trophy final. He first served as the coach of the team from 2018 to 2022. "I think a lot of credit should go to the players, the way they fought in difficult moments," he told this daily on the eve of the final. "For me personally, being part of this coaching setup after losing two semifinals — one against Bengal (in 2020) and one against Saurashtra (2019) is a step forward. It's good to be in the finals, but again, not emphasising too much in terms of performance. We're looking at this as one more game and trying to play as best as we can," he said.
While the fact that they have four players who have won this title for Karnataka, Goud felt thinking too much about it may invite undue pressure. "We just want to play the game as it has to be, like a league game," he said.
Playing in Hubballi, where they grabbed an innings win against Chandigarh in November 2025, Goud felt that Karnataka can ride on the support from the home crowd. "Playing matches in Mofussil areas, you always bring that crowd in also, playing the game already against Chandigarh here has given us some sort of input in terms of the wicket and in terms of the outfield," he said.
As Jammu and Kashmir's appearance in the final underlines the increased standards of domestic cricket in India, Goud felt that his job has gotten more challenging. "Now the domestic season is becoming tougher and tougher, first of all, and from there to reach the stage we are in. Because to play all the three formats and to do well — of course, we lost the semifinal (of Vijay Hazare Trophy) and to see progress in both, white ball and also red ball is a huge challenge. To maintain the squad for probably four, six to seven months from the preparation to now, is also a huge challenge. I am very happy the way the team has progressed from where we started and from where we are now, as of now," he said.
One thing Goud felt grateful is the return of KL Rahul, right after his last match for India - the third ODI match against New Zealand on January 18. "It was hard on him to play on 22nd. He knew that that was a very crucial game for us, because we had lost to MP and we need to qualify to play Punjab in Punjab," Goud said.
"KL with a lot of experience behind him and also understand the situations. And probably played the moments, difficult moments of the game, even against Mumbai, the innings and the second innings, made a lot of difference to the side and also showed everybody that how to go about your batting in terms of the situation we were in. A lot of things we have been talking to the younger players in terms of the approach and in terms of how they need to have a game plan in a situation where they are already prepared to go on. It's only about the execution," he said.
Former champions bank on batting form
Karnataka skipper Devdutt Padikkal is cleared to play the final, after he suffered a cut on his hands in the semifinal win against Uttarakhand last week. He spoke on the team's biggest strength — keeping the scoreboard ticking. They did that in the semifinal match, by scoring 1059 runs (736 & 323). "Obviously, scoring over 1000 runs in a game is definitely a big confidence boost for everyone. Not just the batters. Even for the bowlers, a big score gives them that freedom to really enjoy themselves with the ball. It was a really good game for us and it puts us in a good state to really take that momentum towards the final," Padikkal told reporters.
J&K captain Paras Dogra, meanwhile, was clear in how his team will approach the final. "We're always keeping things very simple. We're not playing a very complicated game. Before coming to Karnataka, we played in Kalyani (vs Bengal) and Indore (vs Madhya Pradesh). We have won there. It's a confidence booster when we win against big teams at their home. We showed that we can do it, and we are enjoying each other's company, and hopefully, we can give a good account of ourselves in the final," said Dogra.
Injury concerns for J&K
Top-order batter Shubham Khajuria and left-arm spinner Vanshaj Sharma needed medical attention after the J&K duo suffered niggles during their nets session. While Khajuria seemed to be having some discomfort on his back, Vanshaj had to stretchered out for medical attention, as he seemed to have struggled with his ankle.