The stage is set for the great southern contest at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium from Sunday. Ranji Trophy defending champion Karnataka is eyeing an encore, but before Indian cricket’s biggest domestic title is seized, there is the significant matter of getting past neighbour and historical rival Tamil Nadu in the final.
Current form and even distant history lean towards R. Vinay Kumar’s men. In the 1995–96 season, the last time when the squads battled in a Ranji summit clash, Karnataka prevailed over Tamil Nadu.
This season too, Karnataka has marched with a stately gait, while Tamil Nadu nearly slipped before finding a stirring path to book its berth in the final.
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In openers Robin Uthappa and K.L. Rahul, Karnataka have a solid combination to set a platform and though its middle order hasn’t exactly clicked in unison, rearguard actions have been constructed through C.M. Gautam and Shreyas Gopal.
The match’s climax will be largely determined by the way the fast-bowling troika of R. Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun and S. Arvind (116 wickets between them this season) combat Tamil Nadu’s skipper Abhinav Mukund, Murali Vijay and Dinesh Karthik.
For now, the aces rest with Karnataka but two men in the rival flanks — the reigning champion’s batting coach J. Arunkumar and Tamil Nadu’s coach W.V. Raman — would know that this game is invested with history, a raw edge and the familiar shades of sibling rivalry. It’s now time for their wards to step up and perform.
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