The Vijaya Hazare Trophy, one of India’s premier domestic cricket tournaments, witnessed a spectacular display of batting prowess as Karnataka’s captain Mayank Agarwal led from the front with a scintillating 157 off 133 balls this Thursday, November 23rd. With the Sardar Patel Stadium B Ground in Ahmedabad as the stage, the four-time champions Karnataka asserted their dominance over the team from Jammu and Kashmir with an emphatic 222-run victory.
The opening fixture for Karnataka could not have been scripted any better, as they took to batting first and quickly began piling up what would become a daunting total. Agarwal, a seasoned figure in domestic cricket, has not donned the Indian jersey in international cricket since a Test match against Sri Lanka in March 2022, and his last ODI appearance dates back to 2020. Nonetheless, his domestic form has remained unwavering, and his contribution in the 50-over format was nothing short of extraordinary.
Agarwal’s innings set the tone for what would be a batting clinic, as fellow opener Ravikumar Samarth joined in with a ton of his own, making sure the scoreboard was ticking at a rapid pace. Together, they added 267 for the opening stand, before Devdutt Padikkal unleashed carnage with a quickfire unbeaten 71 off just 35 deliveries, propelling Karnataka to a monumental total of 402/2. On an off day, Jammu and Kashmir’s speedster Umran Malik struggled to find his rhythm, conceding 8.50 runs per over without taking a wicket.
With a mammoth chase ahead, Jammu and Kashmir’s innings tottered from the outset, as they lost opener Qamran Iqbal for just 12 runs. The pressure of scaling such a mountainous target was evident, as wickets fell at regular intervals, leaving them tumbling down a slippery slope. Yudhvir Singh’s valiant 64 off 39 balls was the lone highlight for the chasing team, but it was nowhere near enough to challenge Karnataka’s total. Jammu and Kashmir’s innings ultimately folded at 180 runs in 30.4 overs.
Karnataka’s bowling effort was spearheaded by the pace of Vijaykumar Vyshak, who scalped four wickets and orchestrated a collapse that the Jammu and Kashmir team could not recover from. The victory was not just an assertion of Karnataka’s batting depth, but also underscored their clinical execution with the ball and on the field.
As the tournament progresses, Karnataka, buoyed by this win, face another challenge against Uttarakhand on November 25. Jammu and Kashmir, on the other hand, has the task of regrouping as they face Chandigarh in their next Group C match, hoping to turn their fortunes around.
The squad lists were a display of both experienced and emerging talents on either side. Karnataka’s Playing XI: Ravikumar Samarth, Mayank Agarwal (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Sharath BR (wk), Nikin Jose, Manish Pandey, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jagadeesha Suchith, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Vasuki Koushik, Vidhwath Kaverappa. Jammu and Kashmir’s Playing XI featured: Qamran Iqbal, Shubham Khajuria (c), Fazil Rashid (wk), Henan Nazir Malik, Abdul Samad, Vivrant Sharma, Rasikh Dar Salam, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Sahil Lotra, Abid Mushtaq, Umran Malik.
On the back of a stellar performance, Mayank Agarwal’s domestic form continues to make a compelling case for his return to the national fold. As his bat does the talking, onlookers and selectors will be hard-pressed to ignore the weight of runs he is amassing in cricket’s domestic circuit.