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Dravid’s presence a big boost

Nandakumar Marar

MUMBAI: Rahul Dravid’s presence will be a big boost to Karnataka’s chances during its Ranji quarterfinal against Saurashtra at the Brabourne Stadium here from Friday.

“I came here on the request of the team. It is a crucial game,” said the ex-India captain who will be playing in his third Ranji match of the season.

Dravid will be bombarded with more than bouncers in the quarterfinal tie.

“It is good to be back playing for Karnataka. It is a young team full of young boys and I don’t know many of them. Hopefully, we can put a good show,” Dravid said.

Prolific Pujara

Saurashtra’s Cheteshwar Pujara, who has made 754 runs in seven matches at a remarkable average of 83.77 this season, is awaiting the big break and the contest against Karnataka will provide him a golden chance.

Dravid is aware of Pujara’s batting exploits and wants to see more of the young man before forming an opinion.

“Pujara has been scoring a lot of runs. I have not seen enough of him but have been hearing a lot about him,” said Dravid.

“It is a good opportunity for players to play domestic cricket because of the cancellation of the Pakistan tour. It will be good preparation for future international cricket,” said Dravid, who will also be playing in the Duleep Trophy, after a stint in the CCI nets.

The Saurashtra attack, which is full of variety, will present a good challenge to Dravid. Left-arm spinners Ravindra Jadeja (30 wickets from seven matches) and Rakesh Dhruv (16 from seven), off-spinner Kamlesh Makwana (22 from six) and medium-pacer Balkrishna Jadeja (17 from four) have all troubled the opposing batsmen in the Super League phase.

The experienced Sandeep Jobanputra (15 from seven) is also a reliable performer on seaming tracks and the Saurashtra bowlers have the talent to test the Karnataka batsmen.

Karnataka captain Robin Uthappa (455 runs) and C.M. Gautam (165 from two games) have shown the ability to play aggressive knocks while Dravid and C. Raghu have donned the anchor roles.

All-rounders Sunil Joshi (31 wickets from six) and B. Akhil (264 runs from three) are also vital links in the chain.

R. Vinay Kumar and N.C. Aiyappa will operate with the new ball while K.P. Appanna or Sunil Raju will provide the spin backup.

The teams (from): Karnataka: R. Uthappa (Capt.), R. Dravid, K.B. Pawan, C.M. Gautam, C. Raghu, S. Joshi, Thilak Naidu, B. Akhil, R. Vinay Kumar, N.C. Aiyappa, K. Appanna, S. Raju, R. Bhatkal, S. Aravind and D. Choughule.

Saurashtra: J. Shah (Capt.), C. Pujara, R. Jadeja, C. Pathak, B. Chauhan, S. Kotak, S. Jogiyani, R. Dhruv, S. Jobanputra, K. Makwana, B. Jadeja, S. Jackson, J. Odedra, A. Vasavda and V. Joshi.

Umpires: S. Hazare and S. Shastri; Match referee: K.P. Bhaskar.

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