Focus on Mayank as K’taka start favourites
NEWDELHI: It will be an uphill battle for Saurashtra when they face mighty Karnataka in the national one-day championship final for the Vijay Hazare Trophy at Ferozeshah Kotla ground here on Tuesday.
Karnataka have been in serious form, coming into the final on the back of massive victories -- by nine wickets against Maharashtra in the semi-final and by 103 runs against Delhi in the quarter-final.
Saurashtra have not been as dominating but Dharmendrasinh Jadeja’s wily left-arm spin has allowed them to remain on top of their game. Jadeja, with 16 scalps, is the second highest wicket-taker in the tournament. However, the biggest threat to Saurashtra’s dreams is Karnataka opener Mayank Agarwal.
IN PRISTINE FORM
Having already aggregated more than 2000 runs in this domestic season, Agarwal has been in runaway form in this tournament, having aggregated 633 runs. In seven Vijay Hazare games, the 27-year-old has hit three centuries and fifties each.
To highlight the difference between him and the rest, the next highest scorer in the tournament is Andhra’s Srikar Bharat, who aggregated 390 runs.
Karnataka look slightly ahead with the likes of Karun Nair and Stuart Binny adding solidity to the batting, apart from the experienced CM Gautam.
Saurashtra too have a very experienced middle-order comprising Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja and Arpit Vasavada, who top-scored with 58 in the semi-final against Andhra that Saurashtra won by 59 runs.
However, focus will be on Ravindra Jadeja, who has been out of favour in the India limited-overs team for some time.
One of the fittest fielders around, Jadeja hasn’t set the stage on fire in the tournament, scoring 212 runs but not taking a wicket in 32 overs.
With the selectors yet again overlooking him for the T20 triseries in Sri Lanka, the onus is on Jadeja to stay in the fray with a match-winning performance.
The match is scheduled to start at 9am.