Baroda has chosen a supposedly batsman-friendly Reliance Stadium — as against the familiar, picturesque and established seamer-friendly Moti Bagh Palace ground — as the venue for its Ranji Trophy semifinal against Karnataka here from Monday.
The visitor's quality seam attack has forced the change. Once Karnataka's Amit Verma steered his side to victory in the quarterfinal against Madhya Pradesh at Indore last week, the authorities here ordered its curator to begin work at a ground 10 kilometres from the city. Last year, Baroda was thrashed by Karnataka by an innings and 102 runs at the palace ground.
Rookie captain Pinal Shah and coach Mukesh Narula, once a skilled practitioner with the new ball in first class cricket, were also quick to recognise the potential diminishing returns from its seam attack at the palace ground strip.
The surface at the Reliance Stadium, according to the local observers, affords freedom for the batsmen to score runs and brings some cheer to the spinners.
The host will miss the services of its key players — all-rounder Yusuf Pathan and pace bowler Munaf Patel — as they are leaving for South Africa on Monday to take part in the One-Day Internationals.
After many years, Baroda has come close to the title match. Thanks to some bright performances from youngsters like Jaikishan Kolsawala, Kedar Devdhar and Bhargav Bhatt, Baroda has taken the big steps in the National championship. Left-arm spinner Bhatt will play an important role along with off-spinner Aditya Waghmode, who is likely to make his Ranji debut.
Outstanding season
It's been another outstanding season for the Karnataka seamers Abhimanyu Mithun, R. Vinay Kumar and S. Arvind. They have been responsible for causing the dismissal of 65 batsmen in the run up to the semifinals. They also bring in plenty of variety, from fast medium to swing and seam.
While Baroda has made the first tactical move, Karnataka hopes to position itself for a shot at the title, relying on the team's capacity to win the big points this season and reaching the semifinals unbeaten in seven matches.
“Last year we scored comfortable wins till the semifinals; this time we have faced tough seaming conditions and have come through. Mithun is young and working hard to learn the off and leg cutters and change of pace and Arvind has improved a lot. The two teams met in the league at Mysore (Karnataka won the first innings points) and so they know a bit of each other,” said Karnataka coach Sanath Kumar.
Vinay Kumar, down with cold and fever, did not take part in the nets but said he will be fit.
