Vijay Hazare Trophy final: Karnataka take on Saurashtra

Bengaluru, February 26: Karnataka looked an unstoppable force in this domestic season. But they still have not managed to earn a silverware to underline that dominance.

Karnataka will have a chance to correct that anomaly on Tuesday (February 17) when they take on Saurashtra in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final at the Feroze Shah Kotla, New Delhi.

On the form, Karnataka should canter to title but throughout this season they fell away at crucial junctures. They looked primed for a Ranji Trophy triumph but lost to eventual champions Vidarbha in the semifinals, a similar story followed in the Syed Musthaq Ali Trophy T20s.

Karnataka stumbled against Rajasthan pacer Deepak Chahar (3-0-9-4) in the Super League after looking in hot touch.

Karnataka's story is not independent from Mayank Agarwal's superlative effort with the bat too as the opener so far has amassed 2,051 runs across formats this season.

And Agarwal would be disappointed at not making to the Indian side for the Nidahas Trophy T20I series in Sri Lanka next month. Perhaps, there will be no better time for the opener to remind the selectors one more time about his abilities than a Vijay Hazare final.

"We have been practicising hard for the final game. One more to go and hopefully, we can return home with the trophy," said Karnataka stand-in captain Karun Nair, who led the side in the absence of injury-hit R Vinay Kumar.

Apart from batting, Karnataka were also able to find a new crop of fast bowlers like M Prasidh and T Pradeep who at various stages proved their abilities.

On the other hand, Saurashtra took some brave decisions to bench Jaydev Shah and Robin Uthappa in this tournament. They will look forward to skipper and new dad Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja, who made a match winning fifty in the semis against Andhra, for impetus in the batting.

They will also hope that Jaydev Unadkat can cast away jet lag and join the team after returning from South Africa.

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