Indian cricket’s backbone tourney begins

Mohammed Rumman Khan | NT

Bengaluru: The Ranji Trophy will make a much-anticipated return after two long years amid the easing Covid-19 situation in the country, providing a host of domestic cricketers the opportunity to make their name in red-ball cricket. Karnataka, who last won the Ranji Trophy in the 2014- 15 season, will be eager to take to the field and would love to start the long tournament on a good note against Railways in Chennai.

All-rounder Aneeshwar Gautam, who was part of the India U-19 team that emerged world champions a couple of weeks ago, was named in the Karnataka squad. He is sure to get a look-in even if later in the tournament. Skipper Manish Pandey and R Samarth, his deputy, Karnataka have a star-studded batting line-up that includes Devdutt Padikkal, Mayank Agarwal and KV Siddharth. Karun Nair will miss the first match as he tested positive for Covid.

In the spin department, the experienced duo of K Gowtham and Shreyas Gopal along with J Suchith and KC Cariappa, could prove a handful for any opposition. That leg-break googly bowler Pravin Dubey, who is a whiteball season’s consistent performer, couldn’t make it in the squad, indicates the team strength.

The pace department is led by Ronit More, who is making his comeback from injury, which kept him out of the shorter format this season.

Karnataka have been placed in the Elite C group with Puducherry, Railways and Jammu & Kashmir. Karnataka coach Yere Goud reportedly said that they are not viewing it as an easy group to qualify for the knockout round. The team cannot afford to have even one bad session, so will treat each game like a knockout match, he added.