Gameweek 4 (3 of 8)

The first Ranji match to be hosted in the new Bandra Kurla Complex cricket ground was between Karnataka and Assam.

For Karnataka, this was a bit of a revenge match, considering that Assam, in the last meeting between the sides, pulled a number on the (then)  2 time defending champions in the first match of the 2015-16 season.

If this game were to be played in Bangalore, then it wouldn't be a surprise at how many members of the Assam team setup would feel comfortable :) - Consider this.

-The coach of this Assam squad is Sunil Joshi - The 3rd highest wicket taker of all time in Ranji history - who played all his games for Karnataka
-One of the main men in the middle order is Amit Verma - He has played 57 games in the Ranji trophy - The first 36 of these was for Karnataka where he was a decent middle order batsman with a respectable average of 46.
-RCB play their T20 home games at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Abu Neechim, Syed Mohammad and Arun Karthick are players who all played a season or 2 in Bangalore and are familiar with the pitch.

Assam won the toss and elected to bat first on an unknown track. Karnataka fielded an unchanged side with their regular season skipper Vinay Kumar still not fit to play. They caught a break - an unfortunate one for Karnataka. In the 3rd over of the day, one of the mainstay of the bowling attack, Mithun pulled up with a groin strain. Undeterred, Karnataka ploughed on. 4 wickets by Aravind, who has turned out to be a very dependable bowler in the last few seasons, in the first session.

Amit Verma, probably familiar with most of the members of the bowling attack, soldiered on, pretty much alone the rest of the day and brought some respectability to the score - 268/6 still has balance in Karnataka's favour. But based on day 1, this does not look like a one-sided contest anymore.

Day 2:
Requiring quick wickets to wrest the initiative from what looked like closing in on an even contest and with hopes of Mithun being back in the lineup from a groin strain suffered early on day 1, Karnataka did not get off to an ideal start on Day 2. Mithun started proceedings on day 2 but could only bowl 1 extra delivery before going off. Not perturbed, the other bowlers stepped up and seemingly broke through. Stuart Binny with the wicket of Puryakastha. 275/7 with the tail coming up would have raised hopes of restricting Assam to under 300. Amit Verma had other ideas. Together with Abu Nechim, he stitched a 40 run partnership for the 8th wicket. Shreyas Gopal, as he has done a few times in the past, finally cleaned up the innings, picking up the last 3 wickets within a span of 10 runs and 7 overs. Still, 325 was a competitive score. Amit Verma stayed unbeated on 166 - A very well compiled hundred.

Samarth and Mayank Agarwal were out to the middle with 13 - 15 overs to be bowled before lunch. Within 3 overs, both openers were back in the pavillion without scoring. At this point, memories of the last season encounter with Assam would have crossed the minds of most of the players. However, the senior pro that he was, Robin Uthappa, together with the stand-in skipper Karun Nair avoided further damage and took the team to 46/2 at lunch, still 279 runs in deficit.

The next 2 sessions would have made the coach and the team smile to no end. Karnataka did not lose a single wicket in the next 2 sessions as the 2 batsmen matched each other run to run and ended the day at 108 runs a piece and the team at 223/2, 102 runs behind the Assam score.

Day 3:
Consolidation was the name of the game for Karnataka when play began on day 3. Still 102 runs in arrears, the overnight batsmen started off on a positive note, getting 46 runs in the first hour of play on day 3. But then the Assam bowlers stuck at regular intervals and, from a position of strength at 269/2, Karnataka slipped to 326/5 in 10 overs' time. Kaunain Abbas got out without registering a score of 50 or more for the first time in his first class career. One of the hallmarks of the season batting-wise for Karnataka has been the lower middle order. No great scores to recollect but a closer inspection reveals timely knocks and consistent ones at that from a combination of Stuart Binny, CM Gautham and Shreyas Gopal.
The 6th and 7th wicket partnerships between Binny / Gautam and Binny / Shreyas Gopal each resulted in excess of 100 runs.
For an outright result, a big lead was the ask of the hour. And it was delivered. When the 5th wicket fell, right up to the point when Shreyas Gopal got out, Karnataka had accelerated to top gear - Scoring 236 runs from 241 deliveries. The innings folded shortly at 570/9 (The injured Mithun unable to take the crease). The lead was a healthy 247. 18 overs were available till the end of day. The bowling unit minus Mithun managed to get the wicket of one of the openers, Rishav Das close to the end of day and Assam finished the day at 49/1.

Day 4:
9 wickets stood between Karnataka and an outright victory on the final day. Spin was going to be the mantra. In the previous match, Gowtham had priced out 5 wickets in the second innings against Delhi. He did not disappoint on the final day, picking up 5 wickets on the trot. By lunch, Assam was unsteady at 140/4 and soon slipped to 166/6 in the second session. By now, survival solely depended on the first innings hero - Amit Verma. Amit Verma stayed put and, just like in the first innings, tried to make something out of the situation in the company of Purkayastha and then Abu Nechim. The second innings brought about some counter attack with the 7th and 8th wicket partnerships accounting for 65 runs in a little more than 13 overs. However, G&G (Gopal and Gowtham) kept at it and soon enough Assam was all out for 264 - A lead of 19 runs. There was time for Vinay Kumar to come in as a substitute fielder and even grab a catch. Positive sign for the next match against Saurashtra, considering Mithun's possible miss due to injury.

Karnataka openers made short work of this target and got there without a loss of a wicket, ensuring that the bonus point was in the bag.

Jharkhand's failure to chase down the target against Vidharbha in their match meant that Karnataka climbed to the top of the table in group B at the end of Gameweek 4.

Gameweek 3 (2 of 8)

Karnataka face Delhi at the Eden Gardens between the 20th and the 23rd of October. Delhi's bowlers might be the most overworked unit of all teams so far. They bowled close to 170 overs in the win over Assam and then toiled for 170 overs in Mumbai against THAT PARTNERSHIP between Gugale and Bawne.

The Venue: Eden Gardens played host to the 2nd test match between India and New Zealand - A match that completed within 4 days. Kerala took on Himachal Pradesh in round 1 at the same venue. This match ended within 3 days - a small sized pattern which still suggested that the pitch had something for the bowlers. Both the matches mentioned did not have a single centurion.

Karun Nair, captaining the squad for the first time, won the toss and elected to bowl first. With Vinay not yet fully recovered from the calf strain sustained during the previous match, Aravind came into the squad as a like-for-like replacement.

Day 1: Disciplined bowling helped Karnataka dismiss the Delhi squad inside 1 session, suggesting this match will be anything but a run feast. Aravind was the star in the first innings.

Aravind bowled a total of 66 deliveries throughout the innings and to pretty much most batsmen through the order. Close to 92 % of the deliveries were dot balls. Thats pretty stingy bowling. The 5 run scoring deliveries resulted in 3 singles and 2 boundaries - In a 11 over spell !!!!!

Rishab Pant, the man who had scored close to 450 runs in the 2 previous matches combined was clearly the dangerman in the attack. He got good fortune early on in his innings - 2 catches dropped at slips by Mayank Agarwal and K Gowtham. Pant tried to stay aggressive like he did in the first 2 matches. The field placement was also aggressive - 3 slips for the spinner Gowtham (offspinner against lefties - the tried and tested technique). Gowtham won the war, getting Pant to cut a ball and going too hard at the ball resulting in an edge and a catch to Samarth.

Karnataka set out on a mission to bat once but try to make this a good enough target to get a victory in the match. The openers put on a 87 run start. Towards the end of day however, Karnataka had lost their top 3 with the score reading 134. Mithun came in to protect Binny and Gautham and, together with Nair, played out the day.

Day 2: Steady contributions throughout the batting order helped Karnataka build a score of 414 in their first innings. What was noteworthy was the inability of the batsmen to kick on after scoring a 50. 6 batsmen scored in excess of 45. 5 of them scored a half century but 4 out of the 5 were dismissed for scores between 50 and 55. Kaunain Abbas followed up his 2 half centuries in game 1 with another steady 52. Nair, who also scored 2 half centuries in game 1, made 53, scoring big runs in the off-side. When Aravind was dismissed in the last over of the day, Karnataka had build a lead of 324. The ability of their bowling unit in the first innings would have given confidence to Karnataka to try to go for the kill (read as bonus point) in the second innings.

Day 3: The pattern of play on day 3 was similar to that on day 1. If Delhi folded within a session on day 1, their batsmen did not do much on day 3. After lasting 36 overs in the first innings, Delhi just about managed to survive the first session on day 1, losing 7 wickets in the process. They tried an aggressive approach, especially against the spinners. Unfortunately, it did not come off. Gowtham took his first 5-wicket haul in first class cricket. The Delhi fight folded shortly after, coming at at the end of 43 overs. The victory vaulted Karnataka from 7th to 2nd in the table. The bonus point helped.

The dangerman for Delhi - Rishab Pant was relatively quiet. He started aggressively in both innings but departed try to get after the bowlers. He is still at the top of the scoring charts after round 3.

Key takeaways from the match 

- Samarth has started the season well, just like the last season.
- Aravind has stepped in very well in place of the injured Vinay Kumar. Its a good headache for the selectors.
- Karun Nair and Kaunain Abbas have held the middle order in good shape so far. A deeper look at the numbers suggest that they have not entirely cashed in on the starts, considering how difficult it is to get to a 50. Looking around the league at the number of 200+ scores, there is reason to believe more conversions of 50+ scores to 100s are needed. Karun Nair scored a triple century the last time Karnataka played in Mumbai :)

Next Up:  The revenge match against Assam in a match that will be played in Mumbai. Revenge for the crucial points lost in last season's opener against the same opposition.

Jump to Gameweek 2 (1 of 8)

The 2016-17 Ranji season has brought with it, a major change in rule to tackle poor quality pitches prepared in some venues to provide an unfair advantage to home teams. This season will not have any home games. All games will be played in neutral venues.

While this may indeed end up achieving its goal, it does come with its fair share of ill fortune for some teams. 

Having a home venue has 2 advantages - Familiarity of the home team to the settings, the pitch and the backing of the crowd.

Karnataka has been one of the teams in the past few seasons that has enjoyed a significant backing of the fan base. The crowd acts almost like another member on the field with its constant cheering of the home team. 

Week 1 was a bye week for Karnataka. 

The Opposition:

Karnataka kicked things off during week 2 against Jharkhand, who had been promoted from Group C by virtue of finishing in the top 2 in that group the previous season.

The Venue:
 The match was played in Noida, "home venue" for the Afghanistan cricket team. The venue had hosted all the Duleep trophy matches in August and September and in almost all the matches, the spinners played a crucial role in the 3rd and 4th innings (top wicket taker in the 3rd and the 4th innings was invariably a spinner). So the pitch was expected to assist spinners in the 3rd and 4th innings.

The Squad:
The batting lineup, as expected, did not have KL Rahul and Manish Pandey. Rahul was still recovering from the injury suffered during the New Zealand test series and Pandey was part of the India ODI squad against the Kiwis. Kaunain Abbas was making his debut in the middle order in Pandey's spot. K Gowtham was the off spinner to take the spinners responsibility alongside Shreyas Gopal, the leggie.

The Match:
Batting first, Karnataka racked up 577 - helped largely by Samarth's double century and steady contributions through the order by Nair, Kaunain, CM Gautam and Shreyas Gopal. The plan was to bat the opposition out and then go for 20 wickets.
Vinay Kumar suffered a calf injury late on day 2. He would not be able to bowl effectively. This hampered the plans. On day 3, Karnataka managed to get 6 wickets but it was clear that the pitch was offering very little to the bowlers. With a bowler short, it also made sense to look at the long term and not go for broke in Game 1 and risk further bowler injury on an unresponsive pitch.
Hence, on Day 4, despite having dismissed Jharkhand for 374, Karnataka did not enforce the follow-on and, instead, batted out the day.

3 points from this one. On to Kolkata to face the Delhi squad led by Unmukt Chand and featuring a certain Rishab Pant. 

Preface: Flashback to 2015-16

The Objective: "Recapture the glory". 

Karnataka were crowned back-to-back Ranji champions based on the strength of their bowling superiority and timely contributions from various batsmen along the way. It was expected that after such domination of the local circuit, the team was bound to lose some of its gems as they would have been spotted by the national selectors and asked to report for country duty. 

Strange as it may seem, attrition was not the deciding factor in Karnataka failing to make it to the playoffs for the first time since the 2007-08 campaign. Karnataka finished a point off the top 4 and would look back at 3 main factors:

- That opening match against Assam where they conceded the first innings lead and could not get 5 more wickets on Day 4

- That home game against Haryana where Sehwag magic and poor batting led to conceding of First Innings Lead and Karnataka, at the end, battled to avoid defeat

- The 3 drawn matches in all where Karnataka bowled atleast 80 overs in the 4th innings without going through the opposition.

Agreed that the opening match may have featured some hangover from 2 largely successful campaigns. But an interesting sidenote is the events that unfolded on day 4.

It was the 4th of October, 2015. Assam were 30/1 chasing an improbable 388 for victory. The match was supposed to start 30 minutes early. However, communication problems and bad luck led to the team missing the bus and hiring auto rickshaws to reach the stadium. 

The captain ended up being driven to the football stadium (the more popular stadium in Assam especially after the introduction of ISL) instead of the cricket stadium (language barriers), minutes before the scheduled start of play.
This led to an additional 6kms travel to get to the cricket stadium and sure must have had a not so positive impact in the preparation of the squad in terms of warm up and state of mind.

But fairplay to Assam for the first innings. Amit Verma, a former Karnataka middle order batsman played the Karnataka bowling attack very well enroute to a century on day 2 that was the turning point in the match.