Ranji Trophy: Debutants prop up Karnataka

Jose, Onat shine as seniors bungle on Day 1

On the eve of Karnataka’s Ranji Trophy season-opening game against Services, skipper Mayank Agarwal spoke at length about seniors shouldering more responsibilities and guiding the next generation of players, two of whom were handed first-class debuts on Tuesday. Agarwal felt the onus was on seasoned pros like him, Manish Pandey, R Samarth, K Gowtham and Shreyas Gopal to lead from the front.

That talk though didn’t materialise on a cloudy, misty and truncated day when, barring Gowtham who was still batting when bad light brought stumps prematurely, rest all misfired completely. Agarwal, Samarth and Shreyas, although he’s more a bowler who can bat quite well, were dismissed for single digit scores while Pandey, living a dangerous life during his short 10-ball stay, made just 10. End result was Karnataka were in a spot of bother at 148/6 in 40 overs with BR Sharath giving Gowtham company.

Karnataka were able to reach this score largely due to debutants SJ Nikin Jose (62, 83b, 6x4) and Vishal Onat (33, 79b, 6x6) playing handy knocks. The duo, who were drafted into the side on the basis of good recent form, gave a glimpse of their respective talents with some sizzling shot-making, especially on the offside.

They joined forces within the first hour as Agarwal and Samarth departed in quick succession following poor shots. Services’ lead pacer Diwesh Pathania, who was brilliant all day in his 5/40 performance, kept pitching it up to constantly test the defences and character of both Jose and Onat. He even moved the ball both ways and with the weather and conditions aiding such bowling, Jose and Onat had a difficult baptism.

Jose, the 22-year-old from Mysuru, who made a smashing Karnataka senior debut in the just-concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy by scoring 447 runs in 10 games, and Onat, the 18-year-old Bengalurean with 575 runs in five matches in the league stage of the ongoing Cooch Behar Trophy, were up for the battle. In fact, the duo looked completely at ease as opposed to the established Samarth and Agarwal who played and missed quite a few balls.

They were sound with their defences, getting behind the ball nicely to thwart any movement. However, the fire of youth was also visible whenever the ball was pitched up. They didn’t cow down but played some gorgeous cover drives to force Pathania and his pace bowling colleagues Nishan Singh and Arpit Guleria to alter their lengths. And when the lengths became a tad shorter because of their free-flowing drives, the batting became relatively easy.

Almost against the run of play, Onat perished, trapped leg-before by the tireless Pathania. Onat looked unhappy with the decision, possibly feeling the ball may have gone over but sadly he had to go after looking completely set and confident. Services, bowling disciplined lines and lengths all day, cashed in on the opening, prising out Pandey and Shreyas in quick succession to leave Karnataka on a shaky wicket. The fall of wickets at the other end even got to Jose, the right-hander departing after mistiming a pull shot.

Karnataka now have a lot work to do on Wednesday where the dark clouds are tipped to make way for some sunshine.