Karnataka pulled off an unbelievable comeback from a fragile place to grab victory from the Railways throughout its Ranji Trophy encounter in Surat on Sunday.
The youthful staff, led by Nikin Jose, was exuberant in celebration, thronging veteran batter Manish Pandey after he guided the staff to a once-in-a-lifetime win.
But for 2 folks current on the Lalbhai Contractor stadium on the day, the win introduced with it a tinge of nostalgia.
Hyderabad hosted a powerful Karnataka staff within the Ranji Trophy 1997/98 semifinal on the Gymkhana Ground in Secunderabad. The house staff put up a 154-run goal for Karnataka after conceding a 29-run first-innings lead.
The goal was fairly stiff, contemplating the pitch was a rank turner and Hyderabad had the providers of Venkatapathy Raju and Kanwaljit Singh – the latter selecting up seven wickets within the first innings.
The Rahul Dravid-led staff’s probabilities seemed bleak when Kanwaljit replicated his first-innings efficiency, leaving Dodda Ganesh and Mansur Ali Khan to take the staff house.
Karnataka in opposition to Hyderabad within the Ranji Trophy semifinal in 1998
| Photo Credit:
SIVAKUMAR PV/ The Hindu
Karnataka in opposition to Hyderabad within the Ranji Trophy semifinal in 1998
| Photo Credit:
SIVAKUMAR PV/ The Hindu
“19 runs were needed for the last wicket. Suddenly, lunch was called. Nobody had lunch. We were sitting on our chairs, just putting our heads down,” Mansur reminisced throughout a chat with Sportstar.
“Ganesh went to Rahul [Dravid] and said in Kannada, ’Don’t worry. We will win this game’,” he mentioned.
“Mansur and I played a lot of cricket together, tennis ball and league cricket. We also played a lot of junior cricket together. We had that belief and trust,” Ganesh instructed Sportstar, talking in regards to the rapport the 2 shared.
“That game was very crucial for us. We worked very hard as a team. I was dropped from the Indian team, Dravid too and the selectors were watching us. M.L. Jaisimha was their coach. We wanted to impress him also,” the pacer added. “Reaching the Ranji Trophy final was very valuable. That was almost like reaching a World Cup for us.”
The victorious Karnataka staff with the Ranji Trophy it received in Bangalore in 1998
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
The victorious Karnataka staff with the Ranji Trophy it received in Bangalore in 1998
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Ganesh went on to attain an unbeaten 18 to take Karnataka house that day. The staff went on to seal the title in opposition to Uttar Pradesh at house on the again of Dravid’s masterful double-hundred.
Cut to a 25 years later, Ganesh, who’s a part of Karnataka’s Cricket Advisory Committee and Mansur, who’s the facet’s bowling coach, watched in unison because the staff fought again in opposition to the Railways to seal a well-known win.
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“In 1997 I was a player, now a coach. Obviously, there was a lot of heart-beating. We are going forward with a new team. I really appreciated the way we fought back and that is what Karnataka stands for,” Mansur mentioned.
Mansur was additionally filled with reward for Manish and V. Vyshak whose partnership laid the inspiration for the chase.
“Till Manish was there I had a lot of confidence because he has drilled Karnataka out many times during the past also. Vyshak also has a good technique to play spinners,” he mentioned.
“Just like Ganesh said that day, Vyshak told me, ‘Don’t worry, from my side 30 runs is assured. I can negotiate this.’ He’s becoming a good all-rounder for Karnataka and hopefully, he’ll play for India also,” the coach added.
Source web site: sportstar.thehindu.com
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