K Gowtham believes that the return of “world-class” KL Rahul is a big boost for Karanataka before the upcoming Ranji Trophy 2020 semifinal against Bengal to be played from Saturday (February 29) at the Eden Gardens Kolkata.
Rahul joins the already star-studded batting line-up of Karnataka that has the likes of Manish Pandey, Karun Nair, and Devdutt Padikkal with only notable absentee in Mayank Agarwal, who is currently playing in the New Zealand Test series, for the semi-final clash against Bengal in Kolkata.
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As per reports in Starsport, Gowtham said at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday: “Rahul coming back is a big boost for our team. We will definitely look to capitalize on that. If Bengal starts thinking about the big names in our squad, they’ll end up putting pressure on themselves. There’s no doubt that having world-class players like Rahul gives us more confidence, but on any given day, it’s about going out there and expressing yourself.”
He was impressed with the way Karnataka bounced back and showed character in the quarterfinal against Jammu & Kashmir, as his seven-for haul in the second innings helped the side to win the game by 167 runs.
The 31-year-old continued, “More than the win, the character we showed in defending the 200-odd first-innings total was great. Jammu & Kashmir was around 100 for 2 on a batting-friendly pitch, but the way our pacers and [left-arm spinner] J. Suchith bowled showed the character of the team. And the way we batted in the second innings (Karnataka was bowled out for 316) — if we can continue doing that, we can bring the Ranji Trophy back home.”
Karnataka suffered semi-final defeat in the previous two editions of the tournament, though he said the side have learned a lot from the defeats and ready to take on Bengal on their own conditions.
Gowtham signed off by saying, “We have lost two close semifinals in the last two years, and I played both those games. It hurt us very badly. At the same time, we have learned a lot from those defeats. The past is the past.”
(With Starsport Inputs)
