Ranji Trophy: It's do-or-die for Karnataka

Bengaluru: One wretched performance last week is all it took for Karnataka to undo all the good work in what appeared to be a promising Ranji Trophy campaign. Having dug themselves into a needless hole, the smarting eight-time champions now stare at a do-or-die scenario against Punjab in the final Elite Group B game starting Thursday in Mohali.

Leading the group after the first five games when the tournament broke for white-ball events, Karnataka fumbled badly upon resumption last week, suffering a 217-run pasting at the hands of Madhya Pradesh in Alur. That loss pushed Karnataka to third spot in the table with 21 points, while MP rose to second with 22. Maharashtra, who beat Goa by 8 wickets, jumped to pole position with 24.

When the final group games get underway on Thursday, all three teams and fourth-placed Saurashtra (19) remain in contention to grab the two quarterfinal tickets.

For Karnataka, who have been bolstered by the arrivals of India internationals KL Rahul and Prasidh Krishna for the crunch game, the task is simple. If they beat laggards Punjab (11), then they will enter the knockouts irrespective of what happens in the other two contests — MP vs Maharashtra and Chandigarh vs Saurashtra.

However, if they are unable to defeat Punjab, they will have to hope that other results go their way, provided they take the first-inning lead, which is a must to remain in contention. If they do so, then they must hope Maharashtra beat MP or at least take the first-innings honours. A simple win for MP will cook Karnataka’s goose if they can’t win.

Two-time champions Saurashtra too have an outside chance but they also need a victory and hope other results go their way.

“It's important that whatever we have in control, we try to do that well. That is our focus and try to play the best cricket, whatever is possible in all three departments,” Karnataka coach Yere Goud told DH.

“We know the areas where we can improve from the last game. We don't want to go thinking too much and put unwanted pressure. Because that will invariably affect our decision-making on the field.”

Goud confirmed that Rahul will open with Mayank Agarwal, who had to relinquish his captaincy to Devdutt Padikkal following the MP defeat. In all likelihood, KV Aneesh, the sole bright spot in the MP loss, will drop down a spot to No. 3 while Padikkal will bat at No. 4.

A final call on the bowling combination will be taken on the morning of the game because of the wet weather over the last few days in Mullanpur. Although no rain has been forecast for the duration of the match, foggy conditions and the fact that the pitch has been under cover in the build-up could play a part in whether they go with three of four seamers.

The spotlight will also be on 25-year-old Padikkal who has been thrust into the hot seat at a critical time. Personally, he has been in great form but the captaincy is bound to baptism by fire.