In a group featuring five highly competent teams — unprecedented according to Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat — it was always likely that qualification for the knockout stage of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy would boil down to fine margins in the final round of matches. And so here we are, as Saurashtra, Gujarat and Baroda find themselves in a tussle ahead of Thursday’s matches to be among the two teams from Group B that advance to the next phase.
The competition could have been even more intense had Karnataka and Tamil Nadu lived up to their standing as former champions of the T20 competition. But Karnataka began on the wrong note with a defeat to Uttarakhand and could never quite play to its potential thereafter, while Tamil Nadu succumbed when it was put under pressure by the other top teams in Group B.
It has left us with three sides from the west, all from Gujarat incidentally, being tied on top with 20 points each after six rounds. While the team that finishes first in the group will be assured of a last-eight berth, the second-placed side will know whether it plays the quarters or pre-quarters next based on the final standings across all five groups.
Saurashtra, which is currently on top of Group B due to a superior net run rate, should be able to prevail without much difficulty against Tripura on Thursday. Overlooking the pre-match platitudes that players deliver about no game being easy, Baroda should breeze past Sikkim.
For Gujarat, a clash against Karnataka at the Holkar Stadium presents sterner challenges. But it has many in-form players at its disposal. None more so than opener Urvil Patel, who has smashed 28-ball and 36-ball centuries in the past week.
“Things are tight. I haven’t seen a group as tough as ours in the history of the tournament. It is going to go down to the wire, but if we win our last game, I am sure we will be through with the net run rate we have,” Unadkat said.