Ranji Trophy: After a promising begin, one more underwhelming season for Karnataka

Two titles and 4 semifinal finishes in 9 editions of the Ranji Trophy is a high-quality file for many sides. But not for Karnataka, a heavyweight outfit that has received the trophy eight occasions and been runner-up on six different events.

Sunday’s defeat within the last-four conflict to nemesis Saurashtra capped one other underwhelming season. For all of the promise it confirmed earlier within the competitors, Karnataka got here up quick on the face of its first actual check.

In the group phases, the place it secured a tournament-topping 35 factors, and through the quarterfinal victory in opposition to Uttarakhand, the Mayank Agarwal-led facet appeared unbeatable. Nearly each batter made runs, a lot in order that Ok.V. Siddharth, Karnataka’s top-scorer in 2021-22, didn’t get a sport.

And for the primary time for the reason that retirements of Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun and S. Aravind, Karnataka appeared to own the required fast-bowling ammunition to drive forward. The trio of V. Vyshak, Vidwath Kaverappa and V. Koushik accounted for 76 wickets, whereas off-spinner Ok. Gowtham added 27 extra.

But it was additionally fortunate to keep away from many a home large, previous and current. The likes of Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Maharashtra and Hyderabad had been all bunched collectively in one other group, and in what’s a mirrored image of the rising normal of cricket across the nation – which Karnataka additionally has to reconcile with – none of those groups made it out of the group stage.

Against Saurashtra at dwelling, the batting trio of R. Samarth, Manish Pandey and Devdutt Padikkal collected simply 30 mixed runs in six visits to the crease. The pacers appeared spent even on a useful wicket.

The facet badly missed a bowler who might maintain the runs down and create strain. Gowtham was efficient solely on the fifth day and Shreyas Gopal, the leg-spinner, was nameless. Fielding, particularly catching, left a lot to be desired.

Mayank Agarwal’s 990 runs, together with an excellent 249 in opposition to Saurashtra, after a number of below-par seasons, and Nikin Jose’s high-quality debut marketing campaign during which he scored 547 runs are certainly massive positives. But the duo would have positively traded a number of runs for a spot within the last.