Karnataka will face its second stern test of this season when it takes on Saurashtra in a Ranji Trophy Elite Group-B match at the Alur Grounds near here from Sunday.
Like the host, Saurashtra is also coming in following a draw, but it has three points to Karnataka’s one. However, despite its rich recent history in the tournament, the West India outfit has not progressed beyond quarterfinals in the last three seasons. “But he has played only a handful of games for us in the past six to seven seasons. We have a balanced squad and playing against Karnataka always gives us extra motivation”.
Since Karnataka last won the Ranji title in 2014-15, Saurashtra has been champion twice and runner-up two times. It has also been the Southern powerhouse’s bugbear — Karnataka hasn’t beaten Saurashtra in a Ranji encounter since 2009, eight long contests ago. India left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who made a century (102) and took three wickets against Chhattisgarh in the opener, will miss the fixture.
“Whenever Ravindra comes in, he makes the side stronger, certainly” captain Jaydev Unadkat told The Hindu.
In its quest to set right this record, the home side will be led by Shreyas Gopal, who was handed the top job after R. Smaran left to join India-A for the tour of New Zealand. In Karnataka’s second-place finish last edition, Shreyas had his best campaign with the ball (48 wickets) and scored 469 valuable runs.
Because of dehydration, and versus Saurashtra, he will be desperate to show his worth, the 33-year-old leggie didn’t play against Andhra last week.