Bharadwaj’s return boosts Karnataka hopes

the champions, will be seeded into the semifinals if they qualify. With 11 points in their kitty, they need an outright win to be on the safest side, provided Bengal, who have 13 points, do not upset Mumbai.

The other equation leads to Karnataka gaining five points from this match and Bengal conceding a lead (in which case both will have 16 points each). In this situation, Karnataka will advance as they have an outright win against Rajasthan.

From Delhi’s point of view, they have to win outright and hope for Mumbai to do a favour in beating Bengal outright.

These apart, going by their strength on paper, Karnataka should have every reason to achieve an outright win.

The main reason would be the return of Bharadwaj. The tall right-hander injured his back during the third Test in Australia and has been out of the since. Karnataka sorely need him to prop up their middle order.

Another discard, Venkatesh Prasad takes the reins from Sunil Joshi who is away doing National duty along with state mates Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble. The hosts will also miss the services of Javagal Srinath who is resting.

Nevertheless, the Ranji champions have a pretty balanced side. With Prasad and Ganesh handling the new ball, Mansoor Ali Khan will play the supporting cast. Besides, B Akhil can also roll his arm over with his medium pace. The only rue will be that Karnataka go into the match with only one genuine spinner in Santosh Vadeyaraj.

But it is the batting that is worrying Karnataka as they have not been able to put up tall scores this season. However, coach B Rahunath is confident that things will change this time around.

“We will go for an outright win and we are confident of achieving it,” said Rahghunath.

J Arun Kumar and Vijay Bharadwaj lead a pack of six batsmen. A lot depends on Mithun Beerala, Barrington Rowland, Thilak Naidu (who has been entrusted with the keeper’s job too), and A Vijay to put up a winning score.

Delhi was dealt a blow with the last-minute withdrawal of their star batsman Ajay Sharma. The left-handed run-machine opted out due to personal reasons. The absence of medium pacer Amit Bhandari and all-rounder Nikhil Chopra (both included in the India one-day squad) has further dampened their spirits.

However Delhi coach Maninder Singh Jaggi exuded confidence on the eve of the match. “We have a young side. We will go for a victory. I think we have an outside chance,” he said.

A lot depends on Virender Sehwag. If Mithun Minhas, Ashu Dani, Akash Malhotra, and Gautam Gambhir get into their wonted form, the hosts will have a tough time containing their opposition.

Delhi’s attack is fairly decent with India discard Ashish Nehra, Robin Singh Junior and Rajesh Gehlat forming the pace battery. The coach hinted at playing all three seamers while playing a left-arm spinner in Rohit Mehra. Besides Sehwag can also chip in with his slow spinners.

The first objective for Karnataka should be to go for five points and then go for the kill. For Delhi it is all or nothing.

The teams:

Karnataka (from): Venkatesh Prasad (Capt), J Arun Kumar, Mithun Beerala, Barrington Rowland, Thilak Naidu, Vijay Bharadwaj, B Akhil, Dodda Ganesh, Santosh Vadeyaraj, A Vijay, Mansoor Ali Khan, KN Ramesh, GN Umesh, Rajshekar Shanbal.

Delhi (from): Vijay Dahiya (Capt), Ashish Nehra, Virendra Sehwag, Mithun Minhas, Robin Singh Jr., Gautam Gambhir, Harinder Choudhary, Rohit Mehra, Akash Chopra, Akash Malhotra, Devinder Sharma, Rajesh Gehlot, Amit Suman, Sohail Rauf, Ashu Dani.

Umpires:TK Handu (Maharashtra) and S Lakshamanan (Calcutta).