Bangalore: There is a hard edge to matches between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and another engrossing contest is set to unfold when the Ranji Trophy Super League Group `A' sixth round match commences at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Tuesday.

The competitive fervour may run high, but the teams are coming with different backdrops. Karnataka, after a defeat in its opening tie against Baroda, has made a turnaround and is now third in the group with 10 points behind Baroda (13) and Andhra (12) while Tamil Nadu has a mere four points from five matches and is scraping at the bottom along with Uttar Pradesh.

Karnataka needs to raise its tempo in a bid for a semifinal berth, while Tamil Nadu has to get over the `relegation bogey.' And with only the final round remaining after this match, time is running out for both teams.

"Tamil Nadu will come hard at us as they are at the bottom, but even we will play hard," said Karnataka coach B.K. Venkatesh Prasad. His Tamil Nadu counterpart W.V. Raman said: "the competitive streak makes the game interesting. It should be an interesting match as Karnataka, though in the top three, has slipped a bit while we could have done much better since we did have our nose ahead in most of our matches, but failed to capitalise. Ours is a young side and it's in a transition phase."

Consistency

Both the coaches are banking on a consistent display from their batsmen. This season, Karnataka has often banked on some sporadic runs from openers Barrington Rowland and Robin Uthappa besides some fire-fighting lower down from the consistent Thilak Naidu with varying support from skipper Yere Goud, C. Raghu and all-rounder Sunil Joshi.

"All our batsmen are strokeplayers, but it would be better if they take some 20 minutes or so to settle down as most of the time we have gifted our wickets. Our bowling has been terrific, especially left-arm spinners Sunil Joshi and K.P. Appanna, but we do miss seamer N.C. Aiyappa, who is down with a knee injury," Prasad said.

For Karnataka, all-rounder Gaurav Dhiman will replace Stuart Binny in the playing eleven.

Need for runs

Raman too mentioned about the need for runs. "I just hope our batsmen string some good partnerships on a consistent basis. As I said earlier, this is a young team and among them M. Vijay has impressed the most with his compact approach to batting," Raman said.

In veteran S. Sharath, Tamil Nadu has a mainstay who has weathered many a middle order storm. The bowling, spearheaded by Yomahesh, will have to strike early in a match that is crucial for Tamil Nadu to stay afloat in the Super League.

The teams:

Karnataka: Yere Goud (captain), Robin Uthappa, Barrington Rowland, Bharat Chipli,

C. Raghu, Thilak Naidu (wicketkeeper), B. Akhil, Sunil Joshi, Udit Patel, Vinay Kumar, Stuart Binny, Devraj Patil, K.P. Appanna, Deepak Chougule, Gaurav Dhiman. Coach: B.K. Venkatesh Prasad; Physio: Ramakanth; Manager: Ashok Anand.

Tamil Nadu: S. Badrinath (captain), M. Vijay, Anirudha Srikkanth, R. Prasanna, S. Sharath, R. Ashwin, C. Suresh, Yomahesh, R. Naresh, Varun Kumar (wicketkeeper), R. Sathish, Hemang Badani, R. Jesuraj, C. Ganapathy, K. Vasudevadas. Coach: W.V. Raman; Manager: S. Surendran.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail