Karnataka, Vidarbha and Madhya Pradesh will have a slight edge over their respective rivals in the three pre-quarterfinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy to be played in Jaipur on Sunday. While Faiz Fazal-led Vidarbha should go as the favorites against Tripura, it will be a battle of equals when Karnataka take on the equally upbeat Rajasthan at the KL Saini Stadium.
The third quarter-final between two neighboring states – Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh – also promises to be an exciting affair with the former banking on the performance of Venkatesh Iyer, who shone in his maiden T20I series against New Zealand and may eventually is the difference between the two sides.
Coming to Vidarbha, they will be counting on the performance of skipper Fazal, who has always worked on the big stage and coming on Sunday, he will be eyeing another big innings.
However, he would need the support of people like Athara Taede, Ganesh Satish, Yash Rathod and Akshay Wadkar to overcome the onslaught of Tripura.
On the bowling front, young pacer Yash Thakur is among the wickets and is the second highest wicket-taker from the league stage with 14 scalps.
The role of his co-pacer Darshan Nalkande and veteran off-spinner Akshay Wakhare and left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate will be crucial for their chances of making the last eight.
Tripura, who had won all their five matches in the plate group, will have to put up a clinical show to surprise.
In the MP vs UP game, the focus will be on the southpaw Iyer, who has dazzled with the bat in the league stage. The left-handed opener, a revelation after last IPL season, can strike any good at the cleaners and UP will be no exception.
Iyer has scored 349 runs in five matches so far. For MP, another key cog in the wheel is batsman Shubham Sharma, who has scored 335 runs in the league stage so far.
But other batsmen will also have to play their part against a quality UP attack, which has fast bowlers like Yash Dayal and Shivam Mavi.
They will be desperate to go a step further for last season’s runners-up UP. And for that to happen, opener Madhav Kaushik and wicketkeeper-batsman Aryan Juyal will have to come up with good terms and overcome the MP’s attack led by Avesh Khan.
UP’s middle order also needs to be good.
The Rajasthan vs Karnataka clash could be seen as a level-playing battle, but Karnataka could benefit from having more experience playing in the knockouts.
It will be a clash between Karnataka batsmen Ravikumar Samarth, Rohan Kadam, Manish Pandey, Karun Nair, Khaleel Ahmed, Aniket Choudhary, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ravi Bishnoi and Shubham Sharma.
But if Rajasthan has to make it to the last 8, then its batsmen will have to do well, otherwise Karnataka can easily return home.
Pre-Quarter Schedule (Time in IST)
December 19, at Sawai Mansingh Stadium: Vidarbha vs Tripura, 9.00 am
December 19, at KL Saini Stadium: Karnataka vs Rajasthan, 9 am
December 19, At Jaipuriya Vidyalaya Ground: Uttar Pradesh vs Madhya Pradesh, 9.00 am
Pre-Quarter Live Streaming and Telecast
All matches can be streamed live on Disney+ Hotstar. The matches will be broadcast live on the Star Sports network in India.
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