Ranji: Mayank to lead Karnataka in first two rounds, focus on Prasidh

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: Outof- favour India opener Mayank Agarwal was on Tuesday named as Karnataka's captain for their first two rounds of Ranji Trophy matches against Madhya Pradesh and Kerala, while pacer Prasidh Krishna will continue to chart his comeback to topflight cricket through the domestic season. Karnataka will face MP at Indore from October 11, while the former champions will take on Kerala at Bengaluru from October 18. After a lukewarm Duleep Trophy, Agarwal will be eager to be among some big runs to impress the selectors, and Prasidh too needs better numbers in the wicket column. The 28-year-old took just four wickets across two matches in the Duleep Trophy while appearing for India A, and has scalped two wickets for Rest Of India against Mumbai in the Irani Cup. Devdutt Padikkal too will be hoping to be among runs after a fairly impressive Duleep Trophy and pacer Vysakh Vijayakumar,will be eager to make his presence felt with another good outing. However, pacer Vidwath Kaverappa, with a shin injury will be out for six weeks, and out of the team list, said KSCA’s Chairman of the Selection Committee J Abhiram. There will be some focus on all-rounder Shreyas Gopal too as he has returned to the state after playing for Kerala last season.

Karnataka squad: Mayank Agarwal (captain), Nikin Jose, Devdutt Padikkal, R Smaran, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Gopal, Sujay Sateri, Hardik Raj, Vyshak Vijayakumar, Prasidh Krishna, Vasuki Koushik, Luvnith Sisodia, Mohsin Khan, Vidyadhar Patil, Kishan Bedare, Abhilash Shetty.