Hubballi: The KSCA Stadium here buzzed like a festival ground on Day 3 of the Ranji Trophy final between Jammu & Kashmir and Karnataka. And the decibel levels spiked further when Karnataka strode out to bat after bowling out J&K for 584.
Most had arrived for the much-hyped face-off between J&K pacer Auqib Nabi and hometown hero KL Rahul. What unfolded, however, was not a duel but a gripping contest, with Nabi making early strikes. Rahul wasn’t the only one caught in Nabi’s storm.
Karnataka’s entire top order had to weather a probing, disciplined spell from the pacer, who returned impressive figures of 3 for 32 from 14 overs, including three maidens, at a tight economy rate of 2.28. The home side closed Day 3 at 220 for 5 in 69 overs.
The J&K pacer revealed that he received multiple messages from fans who wanted him to dismiss Rahul, a regular India Test opener. But, Nabi said, he didn’t prepare a strategy to make it happen. But also, he did not let Rahul’s stature intimidate him. Nabi stuck to his basics.
“My mindset was to not look at who the batter is and just bowl in the right line and length…in the right channels,” he said in a post-match interaction.
In the 11th over, just before the first session break, Nabi delivered one on off stump that angled slightly away from Rahul. Attempting a back-foot defence, Rahul got a faint edge and the ball carried through to the keeper, where Kanhaiya Wadhawan completed a safe catch.
It was not given out by the on-field umpires. Rahul also looked unsure. J&K captain Paras Dogra opted for a review. And the UltraEdge confirmed the nick, and Rahul had to walk back. He scored 13 off 39.
During J&K’s first innings on Day 1, Karnataka could take just two J&K wickets (Qamran Iqbal, Yaweer Hasan Khan). But, J&K bowlers managed to pick 5 Karnataka wickets on the first day they batted.
“There was some help from the pitch on Day 1 but I think Karnataka’s bowling was a bit wayward,” Nabi said. “In our camp, we were simply told to stick to a particular line and length. Let the batsman try, but we won’t leave our channel.”
The pacer said the pitch is still good for batting. But, the team is hopeful that on Day 4, the new ball will help J&K get some early wickets. “We aim to bowl out Karnataka in one or one-and-a-half sessions,” Nabi added.
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The Nabi impact
Nabi removed KL Rahul in his 12th over. He returned to take two wickets off the last two deliveries of the 18th over of the innings, dealing Karnataka massive blows by removing two of their in-form batters, Karun Nair and Samarth Ravichandran.
The fifth ball of the over angled away from Nair just enough to clip the top of his bat and disturb the stumps. The very next delivery, a full ball outside off moving further away, got an outside edge from Ravichandran, and the keeper did the rest. Neither Nair nor Ravichandran managed to open their accounts, with the latter departing for a duck.
Eight-time champions Karnataka were reduced to 57 for 4.
“I really told myself to not look at the batter. I should just bowl in the right channel,” Nabi said.
Mayank stands tall
It was only Mayank Agarwal who stood firm against J&K’s bowling attack, and helped the team recover from the precarious situation once they found themselves in. He brought up his 21st first-class hundred for Karnataka in 153 balls. Agarwal, who was on field for 335 minutes, remained not out at 130 off 207 balls.
“He played well. He is stepping out to negate the swing. Let’s see tomorrow, we will try to get him early,” Nabi added.
When the top order collapsed, Karnataka required solid partnerships. And, Agarwal built two of them—107 runs with Shreyas Gopal, and then an unbeaten 58 with Kruthik Krishna (27* off 75 balls), keeping the hopes alive for the hosts.
Although J&K’s bowlers finished the day strongly, claiming five wickets, they were guilty of conceding a series of no-balls, 10 in total. Yudhvir Singh bowled four of them, Yudhvir Singh four, and Nabi one.
The support cast
Nabi though found support in Sunil Kumar, who struck after lunch to remove Karnataka skipper dangerous Devdutt Padikkal for 11 off 10 balls. Padikkal, who had scored a double century against Uttarakhand in the semi-final, fell to a back-of-a-length delivery that angled away. Attempting a back-foot defence, he edged it to Abdul Samad at slip.
In the 48th over, Dogra brought Singh back into the back, and the change of bowler worked immediately. On the very second ball, he trapped Shreyas Gopal in front of the wickets, and the umpire had no hesitation in raising the finger. Gopal went to the third umpire, only to burn a review for his team.
With J&K in strong position, Nabi said it has been his dream to win a trophy, especially in the red-ball format, ever since he first represented J&K.
“We haven’t won a single trophy yet. So it’s a dream to do it,” he said.
Earlier in the day, J&K finished its first innings at for 584 in the first session of Day 3. Prasidh Krishna provided Karnataka with an early breakthrough by dismissing Abid Mushtaq for 28 off 50 balls, while Vijaykumar Vyshak removed Lotra for 72 off 138 balls.
On Day 2, poor light, and later rain, stopped play with little more than an hour to go, which got adjusted on Day 3 as the game went on till 5:30 pm.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)