Hyderabad: Like two hungry wolves circling an especially succulent piece of meat, underdogs Maharashtra and the more-fancied Karnataka go into the final of the Ranji Trophy, set to be played from Wednesday to Sunday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium here.
Also, for the second time in three years, an underdog threatens to upset the applecart.
Thanks to their giant-killing exploits in the quarterfinals, where they knocked out Mumbai, and the semifinals, where they outplayed Bengal, Maharashtra go into the title clash with an edge over Karnataka. who are the more fancied team on paper.
Maharashtra are in the final after 21 years and are determined to take home the trophy, as are Karnataka, in the final after four years.
By virtue of playing in Group ‘C’ alongside Hyderabad, Maharashtra are familiar with RGICS, and have fond memories — they scored over 600 runs when they played here in November and in the 2011-12 season, they achieved victory inside two days — and in a way, they will feel at home here.
That is not to say Karnataka don’t belong in the final. Their record of five wins from eight matches in the group stage is the best this season and, despite losing an entire day’s play in the semifinals, batted well enough to advance to the final by virtue of a first innings lead against Punjab.
They are a side hungry to be crowned champions. Their six-run loss to Mumbai four years ago still rankles and with eight players from that defeat in the current squad, Karnataka will be eager to make up for it. As Robin Uthappa says, they are literally dreaming of winning the Ranji Trophy.
But skipper Vinay Kumar’s task will be cut out for him as Maharashtra’s biggest asset is their batting. Topping the charts this year is veteran batsman Kedar Jadhav, who scored 1,074 runs at an eye-popping average of 89.50. Among his five hundreds was a magnificent 204.
Not too far behind, in second spot, is Harshad Khadiwale, who scored an impressive 980 runs at 65.33. He scored three centuries, including 262, the third highest individual score this season. Add to that the fact that the promising Vijay Zol is now available for selection, Maharashtra’s batting seems that much more formidable.
This is the second Ranji final that will be played at this venue, after the clash between Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh in 2009-09.
The Hyderabad wicket this season has displayed extreme characteristics. In the four matches played here, the pitch was conducive to bowling in two and was a batting paradise in the other two.
For the moment, conventional wisdom would indicate whichever team wins the toss should bat first and put up as many runs on the board as possible.
