Ranji Trophy | Confident Karnataka take on Maharashtra

Bengaluru: There is little doubt with whom the momentum is at the moment. Karnataka, riding meaty contributions from both batters and bowlers, trounced Kerala at the KCA Cricket Ground in Mangalapuram last week.  

While Karun Nair and Smaran R smashed double hundreds, an in-form Vidwath Kaverappa picked up a four-for in the first innings. The two promising Karnataka spinners also found some chemistry – with Shikhar Shetty bottling up one end, that helped Mohsin Khan pick his first five-for in first-class cricket.

When Karnataka make the trip to the MCA Stadium in Pune, after the fixture was moved from Nasik, they enjoy as the mental edge in their fourth Elite Group B Ranji Trophy fixture against Maharashtra, beginning on Saturday. 

And the numbers are also in favour of Karnataka, especially in recent times, having won four of their last five fixtures against the hosts. 

On the eve of the game, with the 22-yard strip on the drier side, it is likely to be conducive to spin as the game progresses. 

With no rain forecast for the fixture and the sun expected to beat down on all four days, the surface might only become slower and lower. 

And with that, another question arises: Four bowlers or five? However, with Shreyas Gopal having already registered two fifties this season, Karnataka will have the luxury to play both spinners in Shikhar and Mohsin. 

With Vyshak Vijaykumar picked for the India A squad for the Rising Stars Asia Cup, which is set to get underway from November 14 in Doha, a fit-again Vidyadhar Patil has joined Karnataka as his replacement. 

However, either Abhilash Shetty or M Venkatesh is expected to pair up with Vidwath to share the fast-bowling duties. 

On the other hand, Maharashtra have not been super convincing in the three games but will be a happy lot, having 10 points next to their name. 

While their game against Saurashtra saw only 111 overs in Nasik, they picked up three points against Kerala, after being reduced to 18 for five at one stage. 

They did, however, deliver a complete performance against Chandigarh when they beat them by 144 runs and will hope for another perfect game against the travelling and in-form Karnataka side, especially with Prithvi Shaw, who registered the third-fastest Ranji Trophy double-hundred (141 balls) this season.  

Squad: Karnataka (probable XI): Mayank Agarwal (c), Aneesh KV, Shrijith KL (wk), Karun Nair,  Smaran R, Abhinav Manohar, Shreyas Gopal, Abhilash Shetty/M Ventakesh, Shikhar Shettty, Mohsin Khan, Vidwath Kaverappa.

Maharashtra: Ankeet Bawane (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prithvi Shaw, Arshin Kulkarni, Siddhesh Veer, Saurabh Nawale (wk), Mandar Bhandari (wk), Jalaj Saxena, Vicky Ostwal, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Mukesh Choudhary, Pradeep Dadhe, Hitesh Walunj, Siddharth Mhatre, Harshal Kate, Rajneesh Gurbani.