Bharath Ramaraj at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
The key narratives from day 2 of the Karnataka-Haryana Ranji Trophy game have been the noteworthy performances of Haryana’s seamers and how the home side is negotiating a transition phase in the longest format.
The cornerstones of Haryana’s impressive comeback were Anshul Kamboj and Anuj Thakral – the pace duo shared eight wickets between them. Of the two, Kamboj bowled with unremitting discipline, testing every single batter in the corridor of uncertainty outside off. He also employed the occasional nip-backer to keep the batters on their toes.
The delivery to KL Rahul perfectly sums up Kamboj’s simple but effective methods. It pitched slightly short of a good length and straightened just enough to catch the edge. Rahul had no other choice but to play at the delivery as it was very close to the top of off stump. Kamboj continued to base his game on old-school virtues of making the batter play and was rewarded with figures of 4 for 32 from 22 overs. That his economy rate was less than 2 gave further evidence of his exemplary control.
At this point of time, you also wonder whether Kamboj’s skills are best suited for the longest format. Test cricket is about being good at the art of repetition and he has the required tools for it. So, he could be on the Indian selectors’ radar for the Test tour of England. Thakral, his colleague, is the taller of the two. The 22-year-old went for more runs, but he bowled attacking lengths and finished with 4 for 68 from 20 overs. The pair’s bowling led to Karnataka being dismissed for 304.
There was another theme attached to Karnataka’s innings. The home side is navigating a rather tricky transition phase. The likes of Manish Pandey, Karun Nair, R Samarth, S Sharath and K Gowtham have either shifted their base to another state or been left out of the set-up. To make matters worse, the pace duo of Vidwath Kaverappa and Vijaykumar Vyshak suffered injuries during the course of the season, while Prasidh Krishna and Devdutt Padikkal were on national duty.
Yere Goud and the rest of the think-tank ushered in youngsters, and that worked in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, with Karnataka emerging victorious. R Smaran averaged 72, with KV Aneesh and Krishnan Shirjith also aggregating over 300 runs in that tournament. Abhilash Shetty, the left-arm pacer, also impressed, taking 17 scalps.
Even in the longest format, Smaran and Shetty showcased their potential against Punjab. Smaran accumulated a double-ton while Shetty bagged four wickets. Yashovardhan Parantap, the seam-bowling all-rounder, has also made useful contributions in the couple of games he has played in the Ranji Trophy so far. With pacers like LR Kumar, Samarth Nagaraj and Manvanth Kumar (all-rounder) in the mix, Karnataka seem to have enough bench strength for the longest format.
The results, however, have not exactly gone in Karnataka’s favour in the Ranji Trophy this season, winning two and drawing four matches. Even in the ongoing game, they suffered a spectacular collapse, losing their last five wickets for a mere 18. And Haryana have made a bright start. Maybe, just maybe, it will take a bit of time for the youngsters to turn potential into consistency.