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Kumble, Mongia looking to impress

Leg spinner Anil Kumble, wicket-keeper Nayan Mongia and stylish batsman V V S Laxman get a chance to prove their worth as Ranji champions Karnataka take on Rest of India in the Irani Trophy cricket match at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore tomorrow.

On paper, Karnataka, with a more balanced side, start as favourites as they attempt to retain the trophy. The absence of their star players - Rahul Dravid, Sunil Joshi, Venkatesh Prasad and Vijay Bharadwaj - who are doing duty in Nairobi, should not affect their performance as they have a strong batting line-up in J Arun Kumar, Sujith Somasundar, A Vijay, V S Thilak Naidu and Somashekara Shiruguppi. The bowling will be spearheaded by Javagal Srinath, Doda Ganesh and Anil Kumble, all seasoned campaigners.

Srinath, who asked to be rested for the Toronto and Nairobi series, will be watched keenly by three of the five selectors expected for the match. The long rest should have done him a world of good and his return to the fold should be a formality.

Another player likely to come under scrutiny of the selectors is medium pacer Ganesh, who was part of the India 'A' team that played against Australia in the United States.

Selection committee chairman Chandu Borde and T A Shekar arrived in Bangalore today, while Ashok Malhotra is expected tomorrow. The trio are expected to keenly watch the performances of the players before deciding on the squad for the upcoming Test and one-day series against New Zealand. The other two selectors, Anil Deshpande and Madan Lal, will be watching the performances of the India 'A' players against the Kiwis at Pune.

Anil Kumble will lead Karnataka while Mongia will captain the talented Rest of India side. Both the teams were confident of doing well in the match though the weather holds the key. Heavy rains continued to lash the city and the wet conditions forced Karnataka to skip nets this morning.

Kumble, dropped after none-too-happy performance in the World Cup and triangular series in Colombo, will be desperately looking to get some wickets and impress the selectors. The leg spinner twice staged a come back to the Indian team, in 1992-93 - with a superb 13-wicket haul against Delhi in the Irani Trophy, and in 1995-96, with some good performance in domestic cricket, and is expected to make best use of this opportunity.

A fully fit Mongia too is also keen on proving his fitness. Though he had submitted his fitness certificate before the squad was named for the four-nation Nairobi tournament, young Andhra stumper M S K Prasad was persisted with. "I am fully fit. That is why I am here. It is good to play a five-day match before a Test series. We have not played much after the World Cup," Mongia said.

V V S Laxman too is looking to return to the team. Though Laxman did not do anything of note when leading the India 'A' team in Los Angeles, a good showing could at least till keep him in the reckoning for a place in the senior squad.

Rest of India hopes rest on the batting of Nikhil Haldipur, Sitanshu Kotak, Hemang Badani and Reetinder Singh Sodhi. The bowling will depend on speedsters Harvinder Singh Sodhi, H Ramkishen and spinners K N Ananthapadmanabhan and Nilesh Kulkarni.

Karnataka have a good record in the Irani Trophy, having won on four out of five appearances. Rest of India have won the trophy 12 times and were joint winners twice with Bombay.

Both teams will name their final eleven before the match tomorrow.

The teams:
Karnataka (from): Anil Kumble (captain), Javagal Srinath, J Arun Kumar, Sujith Somasundar, A Vijay, V S Thila, Naidu, Somashekar Shiraguppi (wk), G K Anil Kumar, Anand Yalvigi, D Ganesh, K Sriram, Anand Katti, B Akhil, Mansoor Ali Khan and Mithun Beerala.

Rest of India (from): Nayan Mongia (captain), V V S Laxman, Shiv Sundar Das, Nikhil Haldipur, Sitanshu Kotak, Hemang Badani, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Nilesh Kulkarni, T Kumaran, Harvinder Singh Sodhi, K N Ananthapadmanabhan, H Ramkishen, J R Madangopal and Dinesh Mongia.