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Karnataka eye victory

Vinay ruled out as State side face struggling Assam
Last Updated 26 October 2016, 19:12 IST

After registering a comprehensive victory against Delhi in their last game, a confident Karnataka will be eyeing another win when they take on a beleaguered Assam in their Ranji Trophy Group ‘B’ encounter here at the Bandra Kurla Complex from Thursday.

With a draw and win from two games, Karnataka are placed second on the table with 10 points. Skipper R Vinay Kumar, who is yet to recover from a calf injury on his right leg, will miss the tie. Vice-captain Karun Nair, who made his captaincy debut against Delhi, will once again lead the side.

Assam have so far failed to reproduce the inspiring show that took them to the semifinals last season. The Gokul Sharma-captained side suffered two innings defeats in their first two matches and then managed to eke out a draw in their third tie against Vidarbha. Assam are lying last in the table with a solitary point.

Karnataka’s batsmen have been in good touch, with opener R Samarth leading the charge. The right-hander backed up his double century in the opening game against Jharkhand with a half-century against Delhi. The 23-year-old, along with Mayank Agarwal, will aim to provide a strong start. Karnataka’s middle-order also looks solid with Nair, Mir Kaunain Abbas, Stuart Binny and CM Gautam all having got some runs under their belts. Robin Uthappa’s poor run has been the only worry.

The senior pace duo of Abhimanyu Mithun and S Arvind has done well to pick early wickets while comeback man K Gowtham has troubled the opposition with his off-spinners. With the side looking balanced in all respects, Karnataka might go with the same team that played against Delhi.

Assam will hope their senior players like KB Arun Karthik, Amit Verma and Pallavkumar Das strike form. “Despite many seniors being in the side, it is disappointing that we have not performed to our potential,” said their coach Sunil Joshi.

The last time these two teams met in Guwahati, Assam walked away with three points from the drawn encounter.

Squads: Karnataka: Karun Nair (captain), R Samarth, Mayank Agarwal, Robin Uthappa, Stuart Binny, Mir Kaunain Abbas, CM Gautam, K Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Abhimanyu Mithun, S Arvind, Abrar Kazi, Pavan Deshpande, Arjun Hoysala, Ronit More.

Assam: Gokul Sharma (captain), KB Arun Karthik, Syed Mohammed, Amit Verma, Tejinder Singh, Rahul Hazarika, Pallavkumar Das, Krishna Das, Rishav Das, Arup Das, Abu Nechim Ahmed, Kunal Saikia, Shivshankar Rai, Dheeraj Goswami, Swarupam Purkayastha.
fixtures 

Group A: Baroda vs Punjab (Delhi); Bengal vs Railways (Dharamsala); Gujarat vs Uttar Pradesh (Palam); Madhya Pradesh vs Tamil Nadu (Cuttack).

Group B: Assam vs Karnataka (Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai); Delhi vs Odisha (Chandigarh); Jharkhand vs Vidarbha (Wayanad); Rajasthan vs Maharashtra (Hyderabad).
Group C: Andhra Pradesh vs Haryana (Wankhede, Mumbai); Chhattisgarh vs Kerala (Jamshedpur); Goa vs Tripura (Bhubaneswar); Himachal Pradesh vs Hyderabad (Guwahati); Services vs Jammu and Kashmir (Jaipur).

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(Published 26 October 2016, 19:12 IST)

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