Rahul, Nair back in the side
Bengaluru, Dec 20, 2016, DHNS
Karnataka drop Uthappa for the quarterfinal against Tamil Nadu
Expectedly, ace batsmen K L Rahul, Karun Nair and Manish Pandey -- all out on national duty -- were picked for Karnataka’s Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against traditional rivals Tamil Nadu while Robin Uthappa was dropped.
The return of Rahul, Nair and Pandey will bolster the Karnataka batting that is expected to face a determined Tamil Nadu side who have called up India opener Murali Vijay and the off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for the Dec 23-27 clash at Visakhapatnam.
“Having the three guys back will be a huge confidence booster for us,” said wicket-keeper batsmen and senior player C M Gautam. “These guys have done really well for us. At the same time, we have been doing well without them too. The newcomers have put their hands up brilliantly. (Kaunain) Abbas and Pavan (Deshpande) have done well. R Samarth has performed brilliantly. Rahul, Pandey and Nair can come and always make an impact. After a long time we are playing with a full team. We haven’t played together in a while now.”
Bowling-wise too Karnataka have it completely sorted. Skipper R Vinay Kumar, S Arvind and Abhimanyu Mithun -- all seasoned practioneers -- are the pacers while all-rounder Stuart Binny will lend balance. David Mathias has been picked as the back-up pacer.
“We have a formidable bowling attack with Arvind, Mithun, Vinay and Stuart. Vinay has got 27 wickets in five games. Arvind (26) has done well too. Mithun is yet to shine because of his injury but he bowled really well in the last game, in the second innings.
“Bhajji (K Gowtham) is bowling really well and so is Shreyas Gopal. We don't know if we'll field one or two spinners, we'll decide that on the day of the match. The spinners have done really well this year, they've won games for us which is very rare for Karnataka in recent times.”
Gowtham, asserting that the team won’t get overawed by Ashwin as most of them have played him since junior days, said the side will look to play attacking cricket in the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, State senior selection committee chairman R Sudhakar Rao said it was an unanimous decision to drop Uthappa, who barring a 128 against Assam, has struggled largely. “With Rahul, Karun and Manish back, we can’t take Robin and bench him. It’s not nice to bench a senior player. Also youngsters like Kaunain Abbas and Pavan Deshpande have performed very well. You can’t drop performers as that would shatter their morale. Moreover, you want youngsters in the reserves.”
The squad: R Vinay Kumar R (captain), K L Rahul, R Samarth, Manish Pandey, Karun Nair (vice captain), Stuart Binny, Mir Kaunain Abbas, C M Gautam C (wk), Abhimanyu Mithun, S Arvind, K Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Pavan Deshpande, Abrar Kazi, David Mathias, Mayank Agarwal.
The return of Rahul, Nair and Pandey will bolster the Karnataka batting that is expected to face a determined Tamil Nadu side who have called up India opener Murali Vijay and the off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for the Dec 23-27 clash at Visakhapatnam.
“Having the three guys back will be a huge confidence booster for us,” said wicket-keeper batsmen and senior player C M Gautam. “These guys have done really well for us. At the same time, we have been doing well without them too. The newcomers have put their hands up brilliantly. (Kaunain) Abbas and Pavan (Deshpande) have done well. R Samarth has performed brilliantly. Rahul, Pandey and Nair can come and always make an impact. After a long time we are playing with a full team. We haven’t played together in a while now.”
Bowling-wise too Karnataka have it completely sorted. Skipper R Vinay Kumar, S Arvind and Abhimanyu Mithun -- all seasoned practioneers -- are the pacers while all-rounder Stuart Binny will lend balance. David Mathias has been picked as the back-up pacer.
“We have a formidable bowling attack with Arvind, Mithun, Vinay and Stuart. Vinay has got 27 wickets in five games. Arvind (26) has done well too. Mithun is yet to shine because of his injury but he bowled really well in the last game, in the second innings.
“Bhajji (K Gowtham) is bowling really well and so is Shreyas Gopal. We don't know if we'll field one or two spinners, we'll decide that on the day of the match. The spinners have done really well this year, they've won games for us which is very rare for Karnataka in recent times.”
Gowtham, asserting that the team won’t get overawed by Ashwin as most of them have played him since junior days, said the side will look to play attacking cricket in the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, State senior selection committee chairman R Sudhakar Rao said it was an unanimous decision to drop Uthappa, who barring a 128 against Assam, has struggled largely. “With Rahul, Karun and Manish back, we can’t take Robin and bench him. It’s not nice to bench a senior player. Also youngsters like Kaunain Abbas and Pavan Deshpande have performed very well. You can’t drop performers as that would shatter their morale. Moreover, you want youngsters in the reserves.”
The squad: R Vinay Kumar R (captain), K L Rahul, R Samarth, Manish Pandey, Karun Nair (vice captain), Stuart Binny, Mir Kaunain Abbas, C M Gautam C (wk), Abhimanyu Mithun, S Arvind, K Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Pavan Deshpande, Abrar Kazi, David Mathias, Mayank Agarwal.
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