Karnataka look for winning start against Jharkhand

Hosts Karnataka will look to start their campaign on a winning note when they take on last year's semi-finalists Jharkhand in a Group 'A' Ranji Trophy match at Gangotri Glades, here tomorrow.
Karnataka, which lost to Saurashtra in the quater-finals last year, would be banking on K L Rahul and Mayank Agarwal to fix the puzzle of not finding a stable opening pair in recent times, especially in the absence of their batting star and India discard Robin Uthappa who is nursing a tender hamstring.
Rahul, who averaged 50 in five Ranji games last season, had performed excellently in India Under-23's triumphant campaign in the ACC Emerging Teams Cup which they won by beating arch-rivals Pakistan in the final at Singapore.

Rahul stood out with three fifties and his most important knock came in the final as his unbeaten 93 helped India chase down a target of 160 with relative ease.
Captain Vinay Kumar would also be pinning his hopes on Agarwal, who is making his Ranji debut, to fill in Uthappa's shoes. He has shown good form leading up to the Ranji season this year.
The RCB opener missed out on a well-deserved double hundred by just three runs in Safi Darashah four-day tournament in August but followed it up with consistent shows in Moin-ud-Dowla three-day format in September.

Ravikumar Samarth, on the other hand, would also hope to carry forward his fine form which he had showed in Safi Darashah tournament, scoring an unprecedented six hundreds.

He had also smacked a brilliant 175 for Karnataka against Andhra earlier this month in the Buchi Babu two-day cricket.
Also the presence of Manish Pandey and vice captain C M Gautam will bolster the middle-order. Gautam had finished as the third highest run-scorer last season with 943 runs.
In the bowling department, Karnataka expect a lot from left-arm pacer Srinath Arvind and last season's debutant H S Sharath.
Spinner Kazi joins K P Appanna to complete the bowling line-up led by skipper Kumar. Kazi with a three-wicket haul, played a stellar role in Karnataka's out-right win over Delhi in the under-25 CK Nayudu Trophy last week.