After dominant back-to-back titles for two years and then a reality check last year, Karnataka is on a roll in the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy season. Four outright wins in five games so far has put it on top of Group B and on course to sail into the knockouts.
Another win against fifth-placed Odisha in the seventh round of the tournament, beginning at the Services Sports Complex ground here from Monday, would all but seal the issue. The last time the two teams met, Karnataka won by an innings and 64 runs in Mysuru, when teams still played home-and-away.
Three successive wins, including a huge 393-run victory over Rajasthan in its last outing, have taken the team to 29 points. The R. Vinay Kumar-led side has been moving like a well-oiled machine, every part knowing its role and working flawlessly.
Karnataka’s strength has been the team effort. Barring the 235 by opener R. Samarth in the team’s opening encounter against Jharkhand — its only draw of the season so far — no batsman figures in the top run-scorers list.
And yet, every player has pulled his weight. Robin Uthappa, Mayank Agarwal, Stuart Binny, Karun Nair, K.L. Rahul — who has since returned to India duty — Samarth, and Kaunain Abbas, have all contributed, including getting centuries, in different games.
The one time the top-order faltered, Vinay Kumar came good with the bat against Vidarbha.
Same is the case with its bowling unit, where Vinay Kumar picked up his 400th First Class wicket in the game against Rajasthan. He is ably supported by Sreenath Aravind with the new ball while K. Gowtham and Shreyas Gopal handling spin. Aravind is the team’s leading wicket-taker with 22 scalps in four games.
“This was not planned, it just happened but we are happy that everyone is contributing. Of course, being in the top-10 individually is good for a player’s personal career and a confidence booster,” said Karnataka coach J. Arun Kumar.
“Last season’s disappointment made us all sit down and talk about it and decide that everyone had to take responsibility in the middle, specially the senior players.
“Complacency has to be kept away and that’s why we are looking at this game purely as an important match and not thinking of the knockouts. The slightest of dips even now can upset the momentum,” he added.
The only team close enough to upstage Karnataka from pole position is Jharkhand but the former has an extra game in hand.
Odisha meanwhile has had a contrasting season with four of its five games ending in draws. With 12 points in five games, it is the only side other than Karnataka and Jharkhand which hasn’t lost a game.
But it hasn’t been able to take control either, managing one point in three of its matches. The team looked set for a second victory against Assam but had to settle for three points after the opposition batsmen dug in.
The teams (from): Karnataka: R. Vinay Kumar (captain), Mayank Agarwal, R. Samarth, Robin Uthappa, Stuart Binny, C.M. Gautam, Shreyas Gopal, S. Arvind, K. Gowtham, Kaunain Abbas, Ronit More, Arjun Hoysala, Abrar Kazi, Pawan Deshpande, David Mathias, and Prasidh Krishna.
Odisha: Govinda Poddar (captain), Basant Mohanty, Biplab Samantaray, Deepak Behera, Dhiraj Singh, Suryakant Pradhan, Abinash Saha, Saurabh Rawat, Subhransu Senapati, Abhishek Yadav, Sandeep Pattanaik, Halhadar Das, Pratik Das, Ranjit Singh, Anurag Sarangi, and Alok Chandra Sahoo.
