Karnataka appears inspired to hold a trophy in an otherwise below-par season, by its own lofty standard. In Tuesday’s final, the two-time champion will have to deal with surprise-finalist Saurashtra for the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground.
The added motivation for the finalists is, the winner will join India 'A' and India 'B' in Deodhar Trophy at Dharamshala next month.
No doubt, Saurashtra could find it tough to match Karnataka's firepower. Much depends on how the team bowls.
Karnataka, which lost narrowly to Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy semifinals and finished behind Rajasthan and Punjab in the league phase of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, has taken each match as an opportunity to redeem its reputation.
The in-form batting trio of Mayank Agarwal, skipper Karun Nair and R. Samarth has done most of the work in the two matches at this venue. They came good in setting a target beyond Hyderabad and then saw the team past Maharashtra.
Therefore, to make a contest, Saurashtra will have to get into the Karnataka middle-order at the earliest. After all, should any of the top-three batsmen settle down, others are capable of performing their roles effectively.
For instance, the last time Karnataka was tested this season, against Railways, Agarwal stood firm after three wickets fell early and in the company Pavan Deshpande, added 132 runs. The largely untested lower-order could well be Karnataka’s concern should the leading batsmen fail for a change.
The bowlers, too, have been consistent for Karnataka and played their part as the team eyes a fifth successive victory. New-ball bowler Prasidh Krishna has impressed after breaking through from the under-23 ranks. T. Pradeep has shown consistency with his line and length while sharing the new-ball.
Should left-arm paceman S. Aravindh recover from the fever that forced him to miss the semifinal, the team will have variety in its attack. Among the spinners, Shreyas Gopal and K. Gowtham have proved their worth when it mattered.
So far, Saurashtra has displayed tremendous fighting abilities after being on the brink of elimination following losses — to Jammu & Kashmir and Hyderabad — in the league stage. Thereafter, Saurashtra has not looked back and chased down targets against Jharkhand, Services, Ranji Trophy champion Vidarbha and Baroda. On Sunday, it overcame several anxious moments against first-time semifinalist Andhra and defended 255 to win by 59 runs.
Though Saurashtra has several batsmen who can step up the pace, its biggest worry is Cheteshwar Pujara’s poor strike rate of 63.93, spread over eight matches. Shockingly, the strike-rate is the lowest among the 15 Saurashtra players who have batted this season.
So far, Pujara has managed only 289 runs off the 452 deliveries faced (most for his team this season). Moreover, if Ravindra Jadeja and Aarpith Vasavada had not scored brisk half-centuries and established a timely century-stand against Andhra, Saurashtra’s campaign could have ended in the semifinal.
