The last time that Tamil Nadu lifted the Ranji Trophy it was way back in 1987-88 while Karnataka are the defending champions of the prestigious first-class tournament. Both the sides will be facing off at the Wankhede Stadium for the title from Sunday, March 8 to 12. Speaking about the shared history between the two teams, TN captain Abhinav Mukund said, “We have shared some good matches in the past. I think we have done well and they have done well too. They have been a consistent team over the last couple of years but I think we have got a big batch of youngsters and I think it calls for an interesting game.” Speaking about building the team, he said, “The Association, management, all have backed us in the process of finding replacements for a couple of senior players that have left. We lost S Badrinath who was a very big cog in our wheel and to replace him has not been easy. “I think the selectors association, coach everyone has backed a couple of youngsters. Someone like Baba Indrajith today, who has scored over 668 runs, didn’t have that many in the first half of the season. Vijay Shankar was not even a regular in the team (and is now an important part of the side). Aswin Crist has come out of nowhere. These are good things that are happening to us and I think this has made my job easier,” Mukund said. The only loss TN team has suffered in the season has been to Karnataka in their tournament opener. While TN has worked their way through building a team, Karnataka, who enjoy a long unbeaten stretch had more or less the same players who have been playing together over the last couple of years. They have also had the opportunity to test their bench strength. “We are not thinking much about the last game or whatever records that we have,” Mkund said. “We are taking it one game at a time. And because we were safely into the quarterfinals half-way through the tournament, we tried different combinations and tried all the bench strength and all the players. So we struggled a bit. Now we have a full team and hopefully we will do well.” The only concern for Karnataka is the muscle injury to wicketkeeper-batsman CM Gautam on whom the decision will be taken on the day of the game depending on his fitness. Speaking about his team’s journey and the difference in the combination from the last season, Karnataka captain, Vinay Kumar said, “I think it is the self belief. Most of them have played five-six years of domestic cricket. They know exactly what kind of effort, fitness, mind-set everything is required. Whenever they get the opportunity they want to perform and everyone wants to achieve big. That’s the plus point that we have.” Discussing the team’s batting, the Karnataka skipper said “Everyone knows that not all the top six batsmen can perform (at the same time). Two-three batsmen have to perform and whoever performs need to perform big. We have that kind of mind-set at present and hopefully it will come out.” Karnataka’s bowling has also been vital to their run-up the final. Sreenath Aravind, Abhimanyu Mithun and the captain himself have been Karnataka’s key wicket takers. “We have played for many years for Karnataka and we know what we have to do as a bowling team. We always complement each other. Whoever is bowling well on a particular day or in a particular session the others have to support him,” Vinay explained. Tamil Nadu on the other hand had a poor start to the season and turned things around drastically. Speaking about the turnaround, Mukund said, “A lot of people have not given credit to the fact that we have played on turning tracks. It takes some skill to beat two quality teams and get seven points from those games. It says a lot about the quality of our team and I think the turnaround was that we played really played against Uttar Pradesh. We got some belief (from it). “A couple of youngsters came in and turned it around. We went to Baroda and a couple of our fast bowlers did really well for us. We then got the belief that we can do really well even on good tracks. Last three games we have played on seaming tracks and I think we have done well. Speaking about his captaincy, Mukund said, “I have enjoyed captaincy to be honest. I enjoy being a leader of the team, to set a good example and do the right things. It has been challenging, yes, but I have also enjoyed the process. “Whoever has been the captain before, has come and helped me in the last five games. They have given their opinions. The main goal is for the team to win. I think everyone is itching to win. That’s where all the hard work has gone. We want to focus our energies in the right direction. We are playing a good brand of cricket and I am excited about the prospect of playing,” the TN captain said.