Bengaluru: In the current scheme of things, Karnataka despite having qualified for the Ranji Trophy knockouts from Group B along with Jharkhand, go into their final league encounter against Maharashtra from Wednesday with a sense of trepidation. Ideally, R. Vinay Kumar’s men having clinched their berth with a match in hand, ought to have been in a better mood but in reality, Karnataka are far removed from being in a happy place.
Following a stirring run of four straight victories, Karnataka have dramatically slipped in standards and in their opponents’ eyes, conceding the lead to Odisha before shockingly going down to Saurashtra, the team who have been bringing up the rear in the table. Fortunately for them, the initial performances coupled with Odisha’s stunning win over Maharashtra in the previous round, sealed the issue for Karnataka and Jharkhand leaving Maharashtra, serious contenders for a top-two slot at one time, in a three-way scrap with Odisha and Delhi for the last remaining berth from Group B.
As it transpires, Maharashtra, tied on 21 points with Delhi and one behind Odisha (22) will need a victory while hoping that Delhi slip up against Saurashtra to clinch the third place. However, with Odisha’s encounter against Jharkhand (scheduled to be held in Dindigul) being postponed owing to the state mourning in Tamil Nadu, both Maharashtra and Delhi will have to await the result of that match after they finish their league engagements.
All this will have little bearing on Vinay & Co. who have been going through the horrors in the last two games. Having been rudely jolted out of their reverie, Karnataka, will have plenty to do to get their mojo back, ahead of the knockouts. Both their batsmen and bowlers are in need of a big boost and will need to lift themselves off the boot straps, as it were, not only against Maharashtra, but with an eye on the next round.
Fixtures
Group A:
At Nasik: Baroda vs Uttar Pradesh
At Delhi: Bengal vs Madhya Pradesh At Rajkot: Mumbai vs Punjab
At Belgavi: Gujarat vs Tamil Nadu
Group B:
At Vadodara: Delhi vs Saurashtra
At Greater Noida: Rajasthan vs Vidarbha At Mohali: Karnataka vs Maharashtra.
