BENGALURU: Chasing their ninth Ranji Trophy title, Karnataka named a 20 -member squad for the knockouts which get under way here on June 6. The hosts begin their campaign with the quarterfinal against Uttar Pradesh.
The team, led by Manish Pandey, will miss opener KL Rahul and pacer Prasidh Krishna, who will be away on national duty, Although the Indian team leaves for England in the third week of June for the one-off Test match, Prasidh, who played the IPL final for Rajasthan Royals on Sunday, will not feature in the premier red-ball competition due to workload management.
Prasidh’s place in the squad has been taken by medium-pacer V Koushik. The 29-year-old, who has played 39 matches for the state across formats, last played a first-class match against Mumbai in the 2019-2020 season. With Ronit More being the only seasoned pacer, Koushik had been called up to strengthen the pace attack which also includes greenhorns Vyshak Vijaykumar, Venkatesh M, Vidwath Kaverappa and Kishan S Bedare.
Promising young fast bowler Vidhyadhar Patil, who made his debut in the league phase of the competition, has been ruled out due to a PCL tear in the knee. The 21-year-old picked up the injury during training and has been advised rest.
Karnataka's strength lies in their formidable batting line-up led by Mayank Agarwal. The former champions bat deep with Pandey, his deputy R Samarth, Devdutt Padikkal, Karun Nair and KV Siddharth weighing with experience. The spin department too is tried and tested with K Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, J Suchith and KC Cariappa in the line-up.
Speaking to TOI on the team selection, selection committee chairman Fazal Khaleel said, “although we will miss the services of Rahul and Prasidh, we have a well-balanced team. We have a good batting line-up which is complemented by a good spin attack and a fast bowling unit which is a mix of youth and experience.”
With the committee's focus on blooding youngsters, the return of Koushik, according to Khaleel, was necessitated by the absence of Prasidh. “Apart from experience, Koushik is a calm and composed cricketer, who bowls a good line and length consistency,” he said.
The other change is a young all-rounder Kishan Bedare replacing Aneeshwar Gowtham.
The team: Manish Pandey (captain), Samarth R (VC), Mayank Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal, Karun Nair, Siddharth KV, Nischal D, Sharath Srinivas (WK), Sharath B R (WK), Shreyas Gopal, Gowtham K, Shubhang Hegde, Suchith J, Cariappa KC, Ronit More, Koushik V, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Venkatesh M, Vidwath Kaverappa, Kishan S Bedare.
Head coach: Yere Goud; Bowling coach: Sreenath Arvind; Fielding coach: Deepak Chougule; Physiotherapists: Jaba Prabhu, HS Gowtham; Strength and conditioning coach: Rajamani Prabhu; Masseur: Somasundar CM; Video analyst: Vinod Kumar; Manager: Anutosh Poll.
