India, Jan. 11 -- Sarfaraz Khan and Devdutt Padikkal are under renewed focus as heavyweights Mumbai and Karnataka clash in the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarter-finals in Bengaluru on Monday. In the day's other last eight game, Uttar Pradesh have to quickly overcome the sudden absence of Dhruv Jurel as they take on Saurashtra.

With 640 runs in seven innings, including four hundreds and a half century, Padikkal is the tournament's leading run-getter. If he continues to be a run machine, Padikkal might make it very difficult for selectors to overlook him as preparations for the ODI World Cup in 2027 come into focus after the T20 World Cup and the IPL in the second half of the year.

It has been a season of big scores in Vijay Hazare Trophy with ...