Focus On In-Form Mayank Agarwal As Karnataka Take On Harayana In Vijay Hazare Trophy Semi-Final

Seeking a break in IPL after going unsold in mega auction, Karnataka skipper Mayank Agarwal will look to extend his incredible run of form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy when he leads his team out in their semi-final against defending champions Haryana in Vadodara on Wednesday. If four-time winners Karnataka have the likes of Agarwal, Shreyas Gopal and Vijaykumar Vyshak in their ranks, Haryana will be banking on in-form players such as Nishant Sindhu, Anshul Kamboj and Ankit Kumar to get the job done for their side.

While a return to the national fold may not seem realistic at this stage of his career, the 33-year-old Agarwal would want to impress the IPL franchises with a strong finish to the tournament in which he has already amassed four hundreds against Punjab, Arunachal Pradesh, Hyderabad and Nagaland.

Apart from the sensational Karun Nair, Agarwal is the only other batter to have aggregated over 600 runs in the season so far.

The veteran opener has so far scored 619 runs at an excellent average of 123.80, while striking the ball at a rate of 109.75 to show his aggressive intent throughout the season.

Karnataka can also afford to lean on the shoulders of KV Aneesh, who has totalled 342 runs from eight matches going into the first semifinal. Also, Devdutt Padikkal had smashed a century in their win over Baroda in the quarterfinals.

When it comes to bowling, Agarwal's top performers so far have been his experienced deputy Shreyas Gopal (16 wickets in 8 matches) and seamer Vasuki Koushik (17 wickets in 10 matches).

Karnataka topped Group C before defeating Baroda by five runs in a close quarter-final match but in Haryana, they could probably face their most difficult test of the premier tournament.

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