JOIN USKarnataka ready for TN challenge in opener
Few contests in this edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy have held fancy, but now that the tournament moves into the Super League stage in Surat from Thursday, there is more at stake for those plying wares and those willing to watch them play.Barring perhaps Meghalaya’s logic-defying win over Mumbai, there haven’t been too many underdog stories to write home. In fact, so dominant have the domestic stalwarts been that they have hogged the top spots in each of the five groups. Baroda’s table-topping show in Group A is the only anomaly to the trend, and even that has come about only because Baroda defeated Karnataka in the League stage. Both the teams were tied on points (20), and Karnataka had a significantly higher NRR. While an archaic rule shaped the drawing up of the schedule, it has added a dash of spice to the opening day of the knock-out stage as among other interesting fixtures, Karnataka face arch-rivals Tamil Nadu. Karnataka, the defending champions, have steamrolled oppositions along the way and are primed to keep the juggernaut going as they attempt to win at least three out four Super League games to confirm their position in the semifinals.But Karnataka’s first challenge is against a well-oiled Tamil Nadu outfit, which topped Group B with five wins in six games, and it won’t be an easy one. “Tamil Nadu are always a difficult team to face,” said Devdutt Padikkal, who leads Karnataka’s run-scoring charts in the tournament with 303 runs in six innings, from Surat on Wednesday. “We have plans for them. We have seen them play and we have enough videos for research. Also, as defending champions we’re confident about how we want to go about the rest of the tournament.”While most of the squad, including the likes of Manish Pandey and KL Rahul, will be available for Karnataka, K Gowtham will miss out due to an injury. The all-rounder has been a handy resource in both facets.“We will certainly miss him but I think we have a number of players who can get the job done. We have a very strong side, and I don’t think it’s very batting-dependent either. It’s a great mix,” added Padikkal.For Tamil Nadu, Baba Aparajith and Dinesh Karthik, the skipper, have been standout performers with the bat, while T Natarajan and R Sai Kishore have shone with the ball - 12 wickets apiece. The numbers pale in comparison to individual contributions from the Karnataka camp, but they have dominated as a unit. That will be put to the test against a side hungry to add to the Vijay Hazare Trophy title they won last month, against the same opposition. Super League games on Thursday: Group A: Maharashtra v Delhi; Baroda v Rajasthan. Group B: Punjab v Jharkhand; Karnataka v Tamil Nadu.