Hardik Raj.
Credit: DH File Photo
Bengaluru: One of the biggest concerns for a transitioning Karnataka the last couple of years has been the lack of depth in high-quality spinners. While they’ve been blessed with a superb pace attack and some gifted batters, the same can’t be said about the department of tweakers. Quite ironic for a State which has produced legends like Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, Anil Kumble and Sunil Joshi.
Last season, Karnataka, after choosing to look past veteran K Gowtham, tried out Shubhang Hegde, Rohit Kumar AC, Dheeraj Gowda, Hardik Raj and Shashikumar K in the Ranji Trophy and with some of them not really living up to the expected standards, they were forced to fall back upon 31-year-old Shreyas Gopal who returned to the State fold after a year with Kerala.
Leg-spinner Shreyas held his end of bargain well, bagging 20 wickets in 6 games this season, while left-arm orthodox Hardik, who impressed with the bat in the final group clash against Haryana here at the Chinnaswamy Stadium with a fighting 40, fared well with 18 wickets. However, the lack of depth and inconsistency has been matter of concern, and coach Yere Goud felt if Karnataka wishes to reclaim the coveted Ranji Trophy, then that area has to be addressed with immediate priority.
“If you look at the Ranji Trophy, the top 20 wicket-takers, there are at least 12-13 spinners. This year, the season started in the month of October and it percolated to November-December. Because of the winter conditions, the seamers played a major role. The moisture content was there for 2-3 days and it helped,” Goud said at the post-match interaction here at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.
“Now the tournament has been split into two phases. You start in October, there will be help for the seam bowlers. As the tournament progresses, the spinners have to come into play because the knockouts will be held when the summer is about to set in. For Karnataka to move forward in this tournament, the spinners have to come into play.
“If you look at the teams which have qualified for the knockouts, the spinners have taken a lot of wickets. We are heavily dependent on the fast bowlers to do the job.”