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A dream gone sour
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A team with a hoary history and talent floundered in the Ranji Trophy tournament. Despite the right mix of seniors and youngsters, Karnataka failed to register the right notes in crucial matches
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Photo: Bhagya Prakash k.
Too little too late Anil Kumble and others congratulate Vinay Kumar after he took another wicket
Last year, before the domestic cricket season, Karnataka’s cricket team coach Vijay Bharadwaj said: “I believe we have the team that can go all the way up. We have the talent, and the team has bonded well.” Cut to the present and a
dream has died as the State squad, after a sedate start, faltered and ruined its chances of making it to the Ranji Trophy semi-finals. And with just pride to play for in its last league match against Maharashtra, Karnataka blazed ahead with an innings and a129-run victory over Maharashtra.It was a case of too little too late.
Karnataka finished its league with 16 points from seven matches and the victory over Maharashtra helped the team finish fourth in Pool A. The start to the campaign had the Rahul Dravid signature, as his century in the opening game against Mumbai ensured a draw, and an encore in the following game against Himachal Pradesh put Karnataka firmly on the path towards victory. “It helps to have seniors like Anil (Kumble) and Rahul around. They are so committed to the game,” Bharadwaj said.
However Kumble and Dravid then got busy with the Indian team and the rest of the Karnataka squad, rather then stepping up their efforts hit a downward spiral. The first innings lead was conceded to a battling, but rookie Tamil Nadu team at Chennai and Bharadwaj of the need for a “better first innings batting performance.” The coach’s requests perhaps fell on deaf ears as the team again lost the first innings honours to Rajasthan, that played without its key batsman Gagan Khoda. Robin Uthappa’s breezy knock in the second innings did hint at an improbable victory while Karnataka chased runs on the final day; but it proved to be a futile effort. “If as a team you cannot beat Rajasthan, which played without Khoda, then something is seriously wrong with the team,” fumed KSCA secretary Brijesh Patel.
Karnataka lost the next match against Saurashtra by three runs. Bharadwaj and skipper Yere Goud were coping with the near certainty of an early exit from the Ranji Trophy league. It was back to the familiar environs of the Chinnasamy Stadium at Bangalore as Karnataka struggled against Delhi, which posted a 500-plus score before the rains intervened, and saved Karnataka the blushes. “What do you want me to say? But I wish the rains had stayed away as new players like Devraj Patil would have got a chance to bat,” was all Bharadwaj would say.At that stage Karnataka had 10 points from six matches and all hopes of a semi-final joust had effectively vanished.
In the last match at Ratnagiri, Yere Goud, K.B. Pawan and Bharat Chipli scored centuries while the persevering seamer Vinay Kumar had a match haul of 10 wickets. Karnataka had at last found a rich vein of form and fortune that had earlier eluded it. A victory was notched, and though it did not alter the State’s fortunes, it at least offered some hope of a revival in the next season. The team does have the talent but perhaps there is need for some course-correction in the attitude department. The Karnataka teams that won the Ranji Trophy in the 90s had that “can-do” spirit. The current team does have two players – Sunil Joshi and Thilak Naidu – who enjoyed those halcyon years in the 90s. It is time for the players to reflect on a season that went awry and maybe, finalise better plans for the year ahead.
K.C. VIYAYA KUMAR
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