Karnataka enjoyed a superb last week after the resumption of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 in the sixth round as they destroyed Punjab at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru with an innings and 207 run victory against Punjab. Despite being without some of their star players in the fixture, they bundled out the visitors for just 55 runs in the first innings.
Apart from Ramandeep Singh (16) and Mayank Markande (12), none of Punjab’s batters were able to cross the double-digit mark. Prasidh Krishna, who featured in the last Pink Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), picked up two wickets for 11 runs in eight overs. Vasuki Koushik broke the back of the opponent’s batting with 4/16 in 11 overs.
All three batters of Karnataka in the top-order got the starts with scores of 33, 20, and 27, but none of them could stretch it to a big score. Smaran Ravichandran, at number four, celebrated an attractive knock of 207 runs in 277 deliveries at the strike rate of 73.29, decorated with 25 boundaries and three sixes.
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Karnataka’s lower order also contributed with scores of 26, 34, 31, and 26, 30 as they were bundled out for 475 runs in the first innings. Leader Shubman Gill celebrated 102 runs in 171 deliveries at a strike rate of 60, with the help of 14 boundaries and three sixes. Both Parantap and Shreyas Gopal picked up three wickets each in the second innings.
KL Rahul to open with Mayank Agarwal for Karnataka in Ranji Trophy 2024-25 against Haryana
The selectors will expect runs from their opener and captain, Mayank Agarwal, who managed just 20 runs in 44 deliveries in their lone inning. Not many batters have been consistent for them in the tournament with the help of 348 runs in 10 innings at an average of 49.71 and a strike rate of 66.66 with that 203-run knock.
The biggest boost for Karnataka before their last group-stage clash of this season is the return of KL Rahul, who missed the Punjab clash due to injury. The return of the senior Indian players in the domestic circuit has come after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made it mandatory to feature in domestic games to get selected for the national sides.
The likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, India’s captain Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, and Rishabh Pant turned up for their respective sides in the last group game. Virat Kohli, who missed the last game against Saurashtra, has been added to Delhi’s squad against Railways.
Rahul was in decent touch during the BGT 2024-24 to finish as the fifth leading run-getter with 276 runs in ten innings at an average of 30.66 and a strike rate of 50.09, shouldering on two half-centuries at the best score of 84 at the Optus Stadium in Perth.
The return of the Bengaluru-born has been a huge strength for the top order of Karnataka. This will be his first first-class appearance in nearly five years, since the 2019-20 semifinal of the tournament against Bengal at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. It wasn’t a decent game for the right-handed batter, who managed 26 runs in the first innings, followed by a two-ball duck in the following innings.
Karnataka has earned just two victories in the six games, including four drawn results. They will face Haryana on January 30.
Karnataka Squad vs Haryana In Ranji Trophy 2024-25
Mayank Agarwal (c), KL Rahul, Shreyas Gopal (vice-captain), Devdutt Padikkal, Aneesh KV, Samaran Ravichandran, Shrijeet KL, Abhinav Manohar, Prasidh Krishna, Vidwath Kaverappa, Koushik V, Abhilash Shetty, Yashovardhan Parantap, Nikin Jose SJ, Sujay Sateri, Mohsin Khan.