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Railways, the 2004-05 champions, are currently languishing in the Plate League; UP, their successors, just about avoided relegation last season. Mumbai, defending champions this year, would look to undo the dubious trend prevalent over the last two years: of champions losing their form completely. Mumbai have already played two matches this season, beating Karachi Urban in the Mohammad Nissar Trophy, but losing outright to Rest of India in the Irani Trophy. On display were flashes of exciting new talent but also some phases of ordinary play.
They are one of the few teams who haven't lost any significant players to ICL. To add to the already existing pool, they have, among others, Ajinkya Rahane, the aggressive opener who scored century on debut and also played the Challengers and Iqbal Abdula, the 17-year-old left-arm spinner who can add up as a handy lower-order batsman. Ajit Agarkar and Ramesh Powar may play more of a role this season, given they both find themselves out of the Indian team currently.
A glaring omission is left-arm spinner Nilesh Kulkarni, who was the leading wicket-taker for Mumbai last season, with 24 wickets at 20.79. There were rumours that he might join ICL, but that did not eventually happen.
They go into the Ranji Trophy a solid team, playing four out of their seven games at home - including the last one, against Saurashtra
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One of the strongest contenders for this season's title, Karnataka have been boosted by the return of Anil Kumble, who will lead the team, and Rahul Dravid. Apart from the duo who will be available for two games, they will bank on the experience of Sunil Joshi and Yere Goud - who joined Karnataka last season after 11 years with Railways. Although they have lost Robin Uthappa to the Indian team, they have a formidable batting line-up in C Raghu, B Akhil, Thilak Naidu and Barrington Rowland, the men who took Karnataka to the final four in the last season.
Joshi, as always, will lead the bowling attack, but he can turn to a capable few to share the burden. There is KP Appanna, the talented left-arm spinner making rapid strides, and R Vinay Kumar, the medium-pace bowler who took 27 wickets last season. They will be bolstered by the presence of NC Aiyappa, the medium-pacer who has recovered from an injury that restricted him to just two games in the previous season. In addition they have Akhil, who blossomed into a fine medium-pace bowler last season and Raghu, who picked 10 wickets with his offspin.
Karnataka have a new coach in Vijay Bharadwaj after Venkatesh Prasad became the national bowling coach and his successor Rajesh Kamat was pouched by the ICL. Bharadwaj headed a 13-day camp - where batting and fielding sessions combined with drills and exercise formed the daily routine - at the Infosys campus in Mysore as part of the build-up to the upcoming season.
Champions versus Contenders... New Kids On The Block versus Old Dogs.... Us versus Them.
The scene is set for the last game at the Wankhede before it closes down for renovation.Stock up on the beer/coffee/chips/salsa or whatever else you might fancy - The big daddies of Indian cricket are about to play ball!
November 3rd cant come soon enough.
PS:-Ramji Srinivasan spoke about fitness, Nisha Verma about hydration science and Praveen Amre about personal coaching. The Mumbai Ranji Trophy probables attended the seminar.
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It has been eight long summers since Karnataka last carried the prefix of 'Ranji Trophy champions.' Not since their extraordinary triumph at the Chinnaswamy stadium in 1999 against Madhya Pradesh has a Karnataka captain held aloft the symbol of domestic first-class supremacy in the country.
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Just two days before their opening Ranji Trophy game but well advance for the long hectic season ahead, Mumbai players got a few words wisdom from cricket’s fitness guru Ramji Srinivasan at the Wankhede Stadium. At a special interactive session; the players had their queries about niggles, gym schedule, on-field training and ways to dealing with chronic aliments answered.
7 comments:
I think it wud be a walk over for Karnataka over Mumbai for 2 reasons :
1) Rahul Dravid and
2) Anil Kumble
It would be a good match practise for Kumble too. The 10 test sojourn should see him pass 600 scalps easily.....
Lest Mumbai doesnt give in meekly as in 2nd innigns of Irani trophy, a match on hands.
I hope Neo Sports shows this match. It'll be terrific to see Rahul Dravid bat and Kumble bowl. Hope Agarkar bowls dravid in form!!
Why do I get the feeling that I am the only one here cheerleading for Mumbai :)
Cheers
How would Mumbai s young guns stand up to Kumble ? And with rains in Mumbai over last 2 days, the pitch is expected to be dry, which would aid Kumble more than Powar or Abdulla. Unless Mumbai batsmen play out of their skin, its advantage karnataka
Anonymous,
Thanks for your comments..
Your argument cuts both ways. If the wicket is dry, spinners will come into play. And Kumble has never been a big turner of the ball.
If there was bounce on the wicket, Kumble would have a leg up on Mumbai's spinners, but in current conditions I don't see Kumble having a significant advantage over Mumbai's spinners.
Also, if the outfield is abrasive and the wicket dry, reverse swing comes into play. Does Karnataka have the bowlers to exploit that?
Also, Karnataka have a new opening combination and Rahul Dravid is in shaky form. A couple of early wickets and who knows how the game moves from there?
Finally, a couple of things -
1. It is a blessing in disguise that Mumbai lost to ROI. I do not see the same complacency being replicated in this game.
2. if Mumbai bats first, Karnataka will have to bat last on a 4-5th day wicket.. How good is the Karnataka batting line up in those circumstances?
Cheers
Kumble doesnt spin the ball. we all know for 17 yrs now. But doesnt he turn effective on dry wkts too. to discount him for likes of stodgy fatty Powar and rookie Abdullah is attrocious.
Mumbai support should be logical, not blind support like this. Kumble is singlehandedly enough for the Mumbai batsmen, bat or bowl first doesnt matter.
You mean to say likes of Powar would upstage Kumble. ? Lol......nothing more insane than this dude in my recent memory
Anonymous,
Discount no, but is there a significant advantage being Kumble compared to Powar and Abdulla on a dry wicket?
Then, factor in the batting of the two sides and tell me which side has been closer to mid season form?
Again, if the wicket has bounce, I will fear for Mumbai given Kumble is in the opposition. Right now, I do not see any significant advantages either ways.
Cheers
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