The two most successful teams in the domestic cricket- Tamil Nadu and Karnataka once again meet each other, this time in the Quarter Final 2 of Vijay Hazare Trophy. The game between the two sides will be played at KL Saini Ground, Jaipur on Tuesday at 9:00 AM (IST).
Tamil Nadu must be wary of Karnataka and be up for a stiff challenge as Manish Pandey's side gave them a close scuffle in the final of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as well.
Meanwhile, Karnataka would be confident after the eight-wicket thrashing of Rajasthan in the pre-quarters and would be keen to raise their game against arch-rivals TN, who too have been in good form in the tournament.
Karnataka have one of the best batting line-ups in the form of Ravikumar Samarth, Devdutt Padikkal, Krishnamurthy Siddharth, skipper Manish Pandey, Abhinav Manohar and Krishnappa Gowtham.
This batting unit can take any attack apart and Tamil Nadu bowlers would be well aware of that.
Karnataka's bowling attack, led by Prasidh Krishna, will have its task cut out against a strong TN batting line-up.
Tamil Nadu had beaten Karnataka in the league phase in Thiruvananthapuram and would be keen to do so again, albeit at a different venue and in different conditions.
In N Jagadeesan, B Indrajith, Dinesh Karthik, captain Vijay Shankar, M S Washington Sundar and the power-hitter M Shahrukh Khan, the team has the batters who can go after the opposition bowling.
Young batter B Sai Sudharsan, in his maiden season, has been a good addition at the top, and can score at a quick rate too.
Washington Sundar, on a comeback trail after an injury during the tour of England, has 12 wickets but would be expected to make substantial scores too and his role in the crunch game will be crucial.
Fellow spinners R Sai Kishore, M Siddharth and R Sanjay Yadav would be vital for Tamil Nadu's chances.
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been involved in some thrilling contests in the past, including the recent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final in which Shahrukh Khan sealed the match for TN with a last ball six.
Tuesday's winner could very well go all the way in the championship.
- With inputs from PTI
