There was speculation whether two of Karnataka's stars -- Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble -- would be fielded for the final game. That was put to rest on Sunday when the Board of Control for Cricket in India refused to grant permission. Justifiably so, as the World Cup team leaves for England on April 23, the final day of the match. Moreover, it protects the players from the risk of an injury.

This itself must have eased the pressure on the opponents. Sunil Joshi returns as captain to strengthen the squad. Karnataka who are on a winning spree routed Punjab in three days. And it is the same second string that has brought Karnataka closer to the title for the second successive year.

This fact was underlined by Madhya Pradeshskipper Chandrakant Pandit who said that Karnataka, with or without their stars, were among the best teams in India.

Madhya Pradesh after conquering humid Hyderabad in the semi-final, landed in the city five days ago. Since then the players have been at nets in the cooler climes of Bangalore.

Confidence was writ large on the Karnataka players' faces. And why not? They had tamed MP in their own den, in the Super League opener at Bhilai, earlier. This is the 11th occasion they are entering Ranji Trophy final. On the other hand, this is MP's highest achievement in Ranji Trophy after reaching the semi-final on two occasions. The pitch looks a green top which might make Dodda Ganesh grin. With his eight-wicket haul against Punjab in the last match, the hard-working medium pacer took his tally to 57 wickets and became the highest wicket-taker for Karnataka in a Ranji season. Only two others from the state -- BS Chandrashekar (55, 1973-74) and Sunil Joshi (52, 1995-96) -- have crossed the 50 mark. Karnataka'ssuccesses so far have hinged on the batting forays. National record holder Vijay R Bharadwaj and his namesake A Vijay have been their spine. Opener J Arun Kumar who has amassed 807 runs so far and former India Under-19 wicket keeper VS Thilak Naidu who scored a ton in the last match, have provided the right impetus.

MP's attack focuses on former India spinners -- Rajesh Chauhan and Narendra Hirwani. The two left arm spinners -- Sunil Lahore and Manish Majithia -- can cause problems. ``It's a 50-50 game,'' said Pandit. ``I don't now how much Karnataka will miss the four stars but we will definitely miss Amay Khurasia,'' admitted Pandit.

The match starts at 9.30 a.m.

Teams (from)

Karnataka: Sunil Joshi (captain), J Arun Kumar, Vijay R Bharadwaj, A Vijay, VS Thilak Naidu, D Ganesh, Mansoor Ali Khan, Anand Yalvigi, Somashekar Shiraguppi (wk), GK Anil Kumar, Anand Katti, B Akhil, Mithun Beerala, Sujith Somasundar.

Madhya Pradesh: Chandrakanth Pandit (captain), Rajesh Chauhan (vice captain),Narendra Hirwani, JP Yadav, Devendra Bundella, Abbas Ali, Raja Ali, Sunil Lahore, Manish Majithia, CP Sahu (wk), Santosh Sahu, Nikhil Patwardhan, Sohil Masood, Harvinder Singh Sodhi, Sanjay Pande, Gurucharan Singh (wk).

Umpires: SK Sharma (Mumbai), Francis Gomes (Calcutta).