A first-innings lead and a draw will be enough to send Karnataka through to the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals, but Karun Nair insists that his team will pursue an outright victory against Baroda.
"We play to win," Nair said at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Tuesday. "We'll look to get an outright victory. If that is not possible, then we will go for the first-innings lead. But at the start of the game, we can't go in thinking of the first-innings lead. We have to look to play well on all four days."
Karun has managed only 220 runs from nine innings this season, but the Karnataka captain felt it was only a matter of time before he and others looking for form put up big scores. He cited the example of R. Samarth, who has now made 377 runs in his last seven innings after scoring 15 in the previous three.
"With Samarth also...he wasn't getting runs. It's about that one innings which can change someone's season or year. Everyone's batting well. I'm just getting too many 20s and 30s. I haven't converted as much as I could have or would want to. Now, it's the business end of the tournament. It's a good time to start doing that," he said.
Karun admitted that he felt under some pressure, but only the sort that came from within. "It's personal pressure. Everyone feels it. It's about how you handle it. All I've tried to do is stay neutral...stay the same whether I've done well or not. I try and work hard at the nets, and not think too much about positive or negative results," he said.
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