Domestic Bliss

The Mumbai-Karnataka Ranji Trophy matches have evoked keen interest over the years. It was Karnataka that halted Mumbai's (then Bombay) 15 successive triumphs between 1958-59 and 1973-74 when they won the first of their seven titles.

What was once an unbeatable Mumbai side is now going through a transition, so much so that they are now just a pale shadow of their former champion self.

On the other hand, Karnataka are now on their way to becoming what Mumbai once were. The defending champions look the best side in the country, their players well grounded and are playing with just one goal in mind – to win the Ranji title. It was with this mindset that they went about the business last season and won the title comfortably. It is with the same mindset that they have set out to defend the crown.
Playing with the same core group for the last couple of years and led by the hard-working R Vinay Kumar, who will turn 31 on February 12 and is the senior-most player in the squad, Karnataka are ready for any challenge thrown at them in any condition.

How else can one explain Karnataka winning outright their first four matches this season while bagging the first innings points in two of the other three. They have gone unbeaten since November 2012.

With Karnataka (32 points from seven games) securing the quarterfinal slot and will in all probability take on Himachal Pradesh (Group C runners-up at the moment) in the last eight clash from February 15, they can afford to take it easy against Mumbai in the final group clash at the Wankhede from Friday. But they are treating this game as a pre-quarterfinal tie, not wanting to break their rhythm.

Mumbai, on the other hand, have no option but to win if they are to make it to the last eight. Going through perhaps one of their worst seasons with a young and inexperienced side, what with captaincy changing hands twice, Mumbai cannot even think of just taking the first innings points and waiting for other results to work in their favour.

Mumbai have 17 points and are fourth in Group A. Their morale hitting rock bottom following a loss to Jammu & Kashmir and conceding the first innings points to Madhya Pradesh in their two previous home matches, Mumbai have regained their confidence with a convincing win under Aditya Tare's captaincy against Baroda last week.

Tare said on the match eve on Thursday: "We also know it's a must-win game. The guys are confident. The winning dressing room is a different dressing room altogether. It was a much-needed win against Baroda, especially as it was achieved without some top players, and has given us the momentum."

Mumbai's slip in performance stems from the fact that 25 players made their appearances in seven matches, six of them being debutants. Only Shreyas Iyer has grabbed the opportunity with both hands to top-score in his maiden first-class season, amassing 610 runs with two centuries and four half-centuries. Iyer is also one of the only four to have featured in all the seven games – Suryakumar Yadav, current captain Tare and Shardul Thakur being the other three.

Thakur, who has been bowling at his best this season, seems to be a one-man bowling unit for Mumbai, until last game against Baroda. With 31 wickets, Thakur is way ahead of the rest of Mumbai bowlers, until Balwinder Singh Sandhu and Harmeet Singh lent support in the win against Baroda last week. Other than Thakur, none of the Mumbai bowlers have picked 10 or more wickets and have not played in more than four matches this season.

It is now or never for Mumbai. And they know it. They have woken from the dead in the past and gone on to win the title.

The strip laid out for the four-day encounter raised eyebrows, more so from the visiting camp. Desperate to win and get minimum of six points, a turning pitch is on offer to suit the likes of Harmeet, Iqbal Abdulla and Akshay Girap.

But whatever the pitch conditions, Karnataka have the edge. Their three frontline pacers – skipper Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun and Sreenath Aravind have 84 wickets among them while leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal has 15.

Squads: Mumbai: Aditya Tare (C), Abhishek Nayar, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Siddhesh Lad, Sufiyan Shaikh, Shardul Thakur, Nikhil Patil, Akhil Herwadkar, Shrideep Mangela, Badre Alam, Iqbal Abdullah, Akshay Girap, Harmeet Singh, Balwinder Singh Sandhu

Karnataka: R Vinay Kumar (C), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, CM Gautam, Robin Uthappa, Kunal Kapoor, R Samarth, Shreyas Gopal, Abhimanyu Mithun, S Aravind, Karun Nair, Udit Patel, HS Sharath, Suchith J, Shishir Bhavane

ELSEWHERE:
GROUP A
Baroda vs Tamil Nadu in Vadodara
Madhya Pradesh vs Bengal in Indore
Railways vs Uttar Pradesh in Delhi

GROUP B
Gujarat vs Haryana in Ahmedabad
Maharashtra vs Vidarbha in Pune
Odisha vs Saurashtra in Cuttack
Punjab vs Delhi in Patiala

GROUP C
Andhra vs Goa in Ongole
Hyderabad vs Himachal Pradesh in Hyderabad
Jharkhand vs Services in Jamshedpur
Kerala vs Assam in Kannur

Mumbai to host Ranji final
The 2014-15 Ranji Trophy final will be played at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium from March 8-12. The semifinals will be held in Bangalore and Kolkata from February 25. The venues have been decided based on the pitch reports submitted by the match referees. The venues for the quarterfinals from February 15 have also been identified with Lahli, Cuttack, Indore and Jaipure being the chosen ones