The heady combination of youth experience that helped Karnataka end their five-year title drought with the Vijay Hazare Trophy triumph will add strength to the state side’s quest for more trophies in the future, reckons head coach Yere Goud. Karnataka had parted ways with veteran batter and former skipper Manish Pandey mid-season. But newcomers such as Ravichandran Smaran, KV Aneesh, KL Shrijith and Abhilash Shetty stepped in seamlessly and chipped in alongside experienced players like Mayank Agarwal and Vasuki Koushik.

Goud, himself a former Karnataka skipper, said they started the preparations for the tournament with a course correction after getting knocked out of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the quarterfinals.

“We’d good mix of young and seasoned players. It was all about harnessing them. After the end of the Syed Musthaq Ali Trophy, we knew the areas where we have to improve as a team. We defined the roles of the players for this tournament,” Goud told PTI.

Karnataka stopped the Vidarbha juggernaut in the title clash at Vadodara on Saturday.

Goud said Karnataka’s transformation was helmed by captain Agarwal, who had a wonderful outing as the leader and a batter.

“Our campaign went well because Mayank performed well as a captain and batter. He had a good season in Ranji Trophy and in the SMAT. So, when he started well, it percolated to others. It was amazing to see him performing the twin role,” he said.

Vidarbha’s Karun Nair (779 runs from 9 matches, Avg: 389.50) hogged all the limelight during a stellar run, but Agarwal was not far behind.

He was the second highest run-getter with 651 runs from 10 matches at an average of 93 with four hundreds.

Goud also lavished praise on young names such as Smaran, Aneesh and pacer Abhilash who stepped in at the crucial time.

“The youngsters who have come…they contributed wherever it was required. They have done their job in the quarters and semis and in the final. Of course, we got some boost as well in the knockouts as pacer Prasidh Krishna and top-order batter Devdutt Padikkal returned to play for us after the Australia tour.

“They made runs and picked up those crucial wickets when it required. Abhilash Shetty (17 wickets), as a left-arm medium pacer, offered us the variety as well,” he said.

Smaran made 433 runs from 10 matches at 72 with two hundreds, while Aneesh scored 385 runs at shade over 48 with four fifties.

So, what made these two perform consistently throughout the tournament? “I was Aneesh’s under-16 coach and under-19 coach. And U-23 as well. So, three categories he was with me. Smaran was, last year, the under-23 captain when I was coaching that squad.

“So, it helped me to understand them better and know what their strengths are and how I can use them in a game. Both are players with a lot of potential. “Smaran being a left-hander, adds value as well. I mean, in terms of the match’s context, it’s difficult for the other teams’ bowlers to operate against the right-hand combination,” Goud explained.

The coach had a word of praise for Shreyas Gopal, who returned to the state’s stables ahead of this season after spending a year with Kerala.

The leg-spinner was joint highest-wicket taker for Karnataka (18) along with Koushik.

Koushik was exceptional because he gave just 4.5 runs per over, the lowest economy rate among frontline Karnataka bowlers, in a tournament where high totals were regularly posted.

“Koushik has been our tireless worker for so many years. He played his role consistently throughout the tournament. He knows his strengths and he keeps that area just on the good length and just short of good length.

“So, he makes the batsmen take chances against him. And in the process, he will get a lot of wickets. And also, helps the other players, the other bowlers to get wickets,” said Goud.

However, Karnataka had their task cut out in the Ranji Trophy as the second leg is scheduled to start from January 23.

They are fourth in Elite Group C and they now will have to win the remaining two games and the results of some other matches also need to go their way.

“We will try to win the next two games and see where we stand. Like you mentioned, there are a lot of other games also where the results need to go our way.

“Probably, if we want to win the (Ranji) Championship next year, then we have to work from now on. So, we will give the detailed report to the management. From then on, we will see what can be done,” he noted.

Vidwath may return against Haryana

Goud confirmed that pacer Vidwath Kaverappa who missed the large part of the season with an injury will return for the final Ranji Trophy league match against Haryana, starting January 30.

“Vidwath might be available for the last game of the season. The seventh game against Haryana,” he signed off.

Seeking a break in IPL after going unsold in mega auction, Karnataka skipper Mayank Agarwal will look to extend his incredible run of form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy when he leads his team out in their semi-final against defending champions Haryana in Vadodara on Wednesday. If four-time winners Karnataka have the likes of Agarwal, Shreyas Gopal and Vijaykumar Vyshak in their ranks, Haryana will be banking on in-form players such as Nishant Sindhu, Anshul Kamboj and Ankit Kumar to get the job done for their side.

While a return to the national fold may not seem realistic at this stage of his career, the 33-year-old Agarwal would want to impress the IPL franchises with a strong finish to the tournament in which he has already amassed four hundreds against Punjab, Arunachal Pradesh, Hyderabad and Nagaland.

Apart from the sensational Karun Nair, Agarwal is the only other batter to have aggregated over 600 runs in the season so far.

The veteran opener has so far scored 619 runs at an excellent average of 123.80, while striking the ball at a rate of 109.75 to show his aggressive intent throughout the season.

Karnataka can also afford to lean on the shoulders of KV Aneesh, who has totalled 342 runs from eight matches going into the first semifinal. Also, Devdutt Padikkal had smashed a century in their win over Baroda in the quarterfinals.

When it comes to bowling, Agarwal’s top performers so far have been his experienced deputy Shreyas Gopal (16 wickets in 8 matches) and seamer Vasuki Koushik (17 wickets in 10 matches).

Karnataka topped Group C before defeating Baroda by five runs in a close quarter-final match but in Haryana, they could probably face their most difficult test of the premier tournament.

There is no dearth of match-winners in the Haryana line-up.

Amit Kumar has scored 507 runs from 10 matches at a fine average of 56.33, while the 20-year-old Nishant Sindhu has been brilliant with both bat and ball.

Sindhu has scored 313 runs with the willow and has picked 12 wickets with his left-arm spin at an excellent economy rate of 4.98.

Kamboj has been very impressive with the ball, having claimed 18 wickets in 10 games while playing a vital role in Haryana’s run to the semifinals.

A handy batter lower down the order besides being a very promising seamer, Kamboj has the ability to move the ball both ways and could prove to be a difficult customer for the Karnataka batsmen.

Haryana entered the semi-finals by finishing second in Group A and defeating Bengal and Gujarat in the preliminary quarter-final and quarter-final, respectively.

File image of Manish Pandey.© BCCI/IPL

File photo of David Warner© BCCI

Young India batter Devdutt Padikkal will need to embrace the challenges that will come his way if he gets an opportunity in the first Test against Australia starting here on Friday, feels his senior Karnataka teammate Mayank Agarawal. Padikkal, who was initially not a part of India’s jumbo 18-member squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, was asked to stay back after A team’s unofficial Tests Down Under following a blow to Shubman Gill’s left hand ahead of the series opener. If Gill remains sidelined, Padikkal is in line to take field for the second time in the format, having made his debut against England in March.

“They (Indian players) have had time to prepare. The good thing was (that) a lot of the guys went and played India A games,” Agarawal, who was in a similar situation on the 2018-19 tour when he was called up for the second Test at Melbourne, told PTI on Thursday.

“They have had at least three weeks to prepare themselves for the conditions. But it then now boils down to the mindset — are you willing to get into the fight? Or are you willing to embrace that fight? If he can get into that mindset — which he has; he has got a lot of skill, a lot of flair (and he) works hard on his game.” In fact, Padikkal looked one step closer to being certain of playing the first Test with BCCI’s official handles sharing a video of his experience of being back with the national side one day before the game.

“It feels really surreal to be honest. The intensity of the practice sessions were quite high. You feel that challenge; you will feel that everyone is ready, raring to go for the big series ahead,” Padikkal said.

“So, it is always pleasure to have training sessions with the Indian team because it feels as big as the match. Hopefully, it will translate to the game as well.” “I am glad that I am getting this opportunity, and hopefully I can make it count,” said Padikkal, who scored a fine 88 in the first unofficial Test at Mackay.

Agarawal backed the Indian batters to banish their recent struggles in Australia.

“They have prepared in the best way they can or they should, according to them, which we must trust. They are going to face challenges, definitely. It’s a place where cricket is played really hard,” said Agarwal, part of India’s 2-1 win on the 2018-19 tour.

“You want to put yourself out there with a mindset of saying, ‘I want to be in that tough situation, or, I want to be in a situation where the chips are down and I can find a way and win the situation and win the game for the team’,” he said.

Agarawal backed his long-time mate KL Rahul, who is set to open in place of Rohit Sharma in the opening Test, crediting him for his flexibility in the batting line-up.

“The real question here is that whenever you are going to play for India, when you are going to represent your national team, there is going to be pressure. The situations have been (different), where he has been asked to open and he has been asked to play different roles,” he said.

“I give him credit that he is somebody who is adapted to playing everywhere. We have seen that he has done really well overseas. He is very calm and he is very collected. He just needs to go about doing his routines, going about playing the way he plays and just stay calm,” he said.

Out-of-favour India opener Mayank Agarwal was on Tuesday named as Karnataka’s captain for their first two rounds of Ranji Trophy matches against Madhya Pradesh and Kerala, while pacer Prasidh Krishna will continue to chart his comeback to top-flight cricket through the domestic season. Karnataka will face MP at Indore from October 11, while the former champions will take on Kerala at Bengaluru from October 18. After a lukewarm Duleep Trophy, Agarwal will be eager to be among some big runs to impress the selectors, and Prasidh too need better numbers in the wicket column.

The 28-year-old took just four wickets across two matches in the Duleep Trophy while appearing for India A, and he so far has failed to pick up a wicket for Rest of India in Mumbai’s first innings in the ongoing Irani Cup at Lucknow.

Devdutt Padikkal too will be hoping to be among runs after a fairly impressive Duleep Trophy and pacer Vysakh Vijayakumar, who has a BCCI pace bowlers’ contract, will be eager to make his presence felt with another good outing.

However, pacer Vidwath Kaverappa, who is nursing an injury, did not find a place in the 16-member squad.

There will be some focus on all-rounder Shreyas Gopal too as he has returned to the state after playing for Kerala last season.

Karnataka squad: Mayank Agarwal (captain), Nikin Jose, Devdutt Padikkal, R Smaran, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Gopal, Sujay Sateri, Hardik Raj, Vyshak Vijayakumar, Prasidh Krishna, Vasuki Koushik, Luvnith Sisodia, Mohsin Khan, Vidyadhar Patil, Kishan Bedare, Abhilash Shetty.

India A vs India D LIVE Updates, Duleep Trophy 2024© X (Twitter)

Half-centuries by skipper Mayank Agarwal and Pratham Singh helped India A reach 115 for one in their second innings and extend their hold over India D after second day’s play of the Duleep Trophy in Anantapur on Friday. India A, who made 290 in their first innings, earlier bowled out their opponents for 183 despite India batter Devdutt Padikkal’s valiant 92 to gain a lead of 107 runs. Now, India A have an advantage of 222 runs, with Agarwal (56, 87b, 8×4) and Pratham (59 batting, 82b, 6×4) leading their run glut in the second innings.

However, Agarwal, who is eager to chart his way back into selectorial reckoning, will be kicking himself for falling on the last ball of the day to part-time spinner Shreyas Iyer, spooning a simple return catch.

But till that point, Agarwal and Pratham played fluently and executed some fluent drives and cuts as the run-rate never came under four.

However, that’s just one part of India A’s story of domination on the day as earlier pacers Khaleel Ahmed and Aaqib Khan bagged three wickets apiece to rattle the India D line-up.

Only one of their batters defied the constant challenge of judgement – Devdutt who stroked his way to a 124-ball 92 with 15 hits to the ropes.

The Karnataka left-hander who made his Test debut earlier this year against England was particularly harsh on any offering on his pads or away from the off-stump.

A century was there for his taking, but the 24-year-old fell just eight runs shy as his attempt to play a shot on the up off state-mate Prasidh Krishna ended up in a simple catch to stumper Kumar Kushagra.

The 11-4-30-1 figures do not fall under the hallow-spell category, but for Prasidh it was important in his comeback journey.

This was the pacer’s first outing in competitive cricket since Karnataka’s Ranji Trophy game against Gujarat in January this year.

Since that match, the 28-year-old was recuperating from a quadricep injury.

Harshit Rana made a 31 off 29 balls, including two back-to-back sixes off left-arm spinner Shams Mulani, but his effort was not enough for India D to close the gap with their rivals.

However, Rana can take a slice of comfort as he completed a four-wicket haul in the opening session of the day to bowl out India A for 290 in their first dig.

India A were resuming from their overnight 288 for eight, but lost Mulani and Aaqib to Rana who ended up with 4 for 51.

India D captain Shreyas Iyer picked up a wicket in first-class cricket for the first time in almost six years during the Duleep Trophy match against India A on Friday. It was the final ball of Day 2 when Shreyas introduced himself into the attack and he was able to dismiss Mayank Agarwal on his very first delivery. It was a slightly flighted delivery that took Mayank by surprise and he ended up playing it straight back to the bowler. Shreyas took a good catch off his own bowling and his celebration said it all. The last time he took a first-class wicket was back in 2018 when he dismissed Saurashtra’s Chetan Sakariya.

Half-centuries by skipper Mayank Agarwal and Pratam Singh helped India A reach 115 for one in their second innings and extend their hold over India D after second day’s play.

Golden Arm!

Shreyas Iyer comes into the attack. Shreyas Iyer strikes first ball

An excellent low catch off his own bowling, and he breaks the 115-run opening stand at the stroke of stumps. #DuleepTrophy | @IDFCFIRSTBank

Scorecardhttps://t.co/m9YW0Hu10f pic.twitter.com/c1nXJsN8QM

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) September 13, 2024

India A, who made 290 in their first innings, earlier bowled out their opponents for 183 despite India batter Devdutt Padikkal‘s valiant 92 to gain a lead of 107 runs.

Now, India A have an advantage of 222 runs, with Agarwal (56, 87b, 8×4) and Pratham (59 batting, 82b, 6×4) leading their run glut in the second innings.

However, Agarwal, who is eager to chart his way back into selectorial reckoning, will be kicking himself for falling on the last ball of the day to part-time spinner Shreyas Iyer, spooning a simple return catch.

But till that point, Agarwal and Pratam played fluently and executed some fluent drives and cuts as the run-rate never came under four.

However, that’s just one part of India A’s story of domination on the day as earlier pacers Khaleel Ahmed and Aaqib Khan bagged three wickets apiece to rattle the India D line-up.

Only one of their batters defied the constant challenge of judgement – Devdutt who stroked his way to a 124-ball 92 with 15 hits to the ropes.

The Karnataka left-hander who made his Test debut earlier this year against England was particularly harsh on any offering on his pads or away from the off-stump.

A century was there for his taking, but the 24-year-old fell just eight runs shy as his attempt to play a shot on the up off state-mate Prasidh Krishna ended up in a simple catch to stumper Kumar Kushagra.

The 11-4-30-1 figures do not fall under the hallow-spell category, but for Prasidh it was important in his comeback journey.

This was the pacer’s first outing in competitive cricket since Karnataka’s Ranji Trophy game against Gujarat in January this year.

Since that match, the 28-year-old was recuperating from a quadricep injury.

(With PTI inputs)

India A vs India D Day 1 LIVE, Duleep Trophy 2024© AFP