Karnataka and Tamil Nadu teams will want to beat each other in the final for the Vijay Hazare Trophy from Friday to win the trophy, with all eyes on Indian players Mayank Agarwal, R Ashwin and Lokesh Rahul (KL Rahul).
Manish Pandey-led Karnataka won a resounding victory in the knockout matches but Tamil Nadu, who dominated the league stage, was a bit lucky that the rain rules helped them beat Punjab in the quarter-finals, after which young Shahrukh Khan lead the team to win the semi-final against Gujarat.
Both the teams are going to compete in an equal manner with a strong batting line-up and the best bowlers. However, with the presence of R Ashwin, the invasion of Tamil Nadu looks more experienced in which variety is also present.
The result of this match, which starts on Friday, will depend on which team’s bowling attack remains effective because both teams have a lot of depth in their batting.
Opening batsman Rahul (546 runs in 10 matches) out of the Indian Test team in the home team showed excellent performance in the quarter-finals and semi-finals. Along with him, his opening partner Devdutt Padikkal (598 runs in 10 matches) has also batted well.
Captain Manish Pandey is also in good rhythm and like him, Mayank and Karun Nair, who are out of the Test team, will also want to show their strength in the final. The Tamil Nadu batting unit is equally strong with Baba Aparajith (480 runs), Abhinav Mukund (440 runs) and stylish Murali Vijay.
Captain Dinesh Karthik has played a good role as a finisher from some of the best innings and he will be expected to fulfill the same responsibility in the final as well. All rounder Vijay Shankar and young Shahrukh Khan have also made some significant contributions.
Karnataka’s bowling also saw some heroics, including V Kaushik, who took four wickets in the semi-final against Chhattisgarh, while veteran pacers Abhimanyu Mithun and renowned spinners K Gautam, Shreyas Gopal and Praveen Dubey took wickets. The bowlers of the hosts will have to bowl in front of the Tamil Nadu confident batsmen and stopping them will prove to be the key to their success.
Off-spinner R Ashwin and leg-spinner Murugan Ashwin are aware that the small boundary of the Chinnaswamy Stadium can be difficult for the bowlers and it will be very difficult for them to stop Rahul, Mayank and other batsmen.
Tamil Nadu medium-speed bowlers T Natarajan, M Mohammed and K Vignesh will be important as wickets in the beginning can make a big difference on the match.
The Tamil Nadu team’s performance has been very poor in the last two seasons, which could be a chance for them to return to the finals, while Karnataka, who did not perform so well in the 2018-19 season, would like to start by winning the title. The match will start at nine in the morning.