For the first time this season, Kerala will host KCA-St. Xaviers College landing here on Tuesday.
History and form favor Karnataka, who has never lost to Kerala in his trophy match. The presence of Mayank Agarwal, Devidutt Padikkal, Ravikumar Samarth and Manish Pandey is impressive.
In Karnataka, there is versatility in their bowling offense, with Krishnappa having his two quality spinners in his gowtham and Shreyas Gopal to take advantage of the stretch when assisted by the slower bowlers.
Karnataka has his two wins at home and is very confident. 2nd in the group, Kerala is doing well in home conditions on a spiny track.
Jalaj Saxena has been the standout bowler for Kerala this season. The off-spinners are key again against Karnataka with a career-best performance (8/36) in their final game against Services.
On serve, Jalaj found support from his fellow spinners and they rolled well as a unit.
Basil Thampi has been completely out of shape this season and looked very normal for his service. New ball bowlers in Kerala are worried about not being able to take advantage of favorable conditions.
Hitters were inconsistent in shutting out Sachin Baby and Rohan Prem. Rohan Kunnummal has recovered from his illness and plans to resume opening duties at P. Rahul.
However, Lohan has yet to reach his full potential and Kerala did not get off to a good start to the season. Kerala batsmen need to get up and play positively against their superior rivals.
Kerala coach Tinu Yohannan acknowledged the strength of Karnataka’s team and said his team must reach their full potential to turn this match into a match. We must do the right thing and use the opportunity to put pressure on Karnataka.