CRICKET | Veteran Karthik begins Tamil Nadu’s quest to reclaim the one-day trophy

.Tamil Nadu, captained by Dinesh Karthik, will look to reignite their fire in the Vijay Hazare Trophy as they face Goa in the Group E opener at the Dadoji Konddev Stadium. Karthik, who had been a commentator for the World Cup, has been diligently preparing with his teammates in Boisar. Goa will rely on Rahul Tripathi, while Tamil Nadu will hope to benefit from the red-soil pitches. The duel between Tripathi and Kuldip Sen will be an interesting affair. Saturday's other fixtures are Madhya Pradesh vs Nagaland and Baroda vs Bengal.

The last time Tamil Nadu lifted the Vijay Hazare Trophy — the inter-State one-day championship — Dinesh Karthik scored a fluent hundred against the Mohammed Shami-led Bengal bowling attack in the 2016-17 final.

The Tamil Nadu team will look up to its veteran to reignite the fire as it begins its Group E campaign on Saturday against Goa at the Dadoji Konddev Stadium.

Karthik, 38, had been involved as a commentator for the World Cup. However, after being reappointed as captain for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the veteran warlord diligently joined his teammates for the preparation in Boisar on the outskirts of Mumbai over the last week.

On Friday, while Goa took it easy after its defeat against Madhya Pradesh in the opening game on Thursday, Karthik and Co. had a long session here for almost three hours. Head coach Sulakshan Kulkarni was confident Karthik’s presence would boost the team in a big way.

“His commitment has been excellent. Even after checking in very late at night during the World Cup knockouts, he used to be the first one out on the park the next morning,” Kulkarni told The Hindu after the session.

While a majority of Tamil Nadu players will be playing at the stadium for the first time, neither Karthik nor Kulkarni are alien to it. During his stint with the Kolkata Knight Riders, Karthik used to regularly train at the venue. Kulkarni is a hometown boy and returns to the venue where he made his Mumbai debut almost four decades ago.