Karnataka announce the squad for Ranji Trophy 2017-18

Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has announced their squad for the Ranji Trophy 2017-18 and has appointed Vinay Kumar as the skipper once again. The domestic tournament has already got underway but Karnataka is scheduled to play their first game on October 14 against Assam in Mysuru. Vinay led the side to their twin triumphs in 2014/15 and 2015/16 season of the same tournament apart from their victories in the shorter formats as well.

However, star batsmen KL Rahul and Karun Nair have not been included as they will be busy with their national commitments during the season. While Rahul is with Team India playing the T20I series against Australia, the latter is the part of India A squad for the One-Day series against New Zealand A. Former skipper PV Shashikanth is the coach of the team.

The squad is a mixed blend of experience and youth with only Robin Uthappa, the major name missing who shifted his base this year to Saurashtra. The likes of Stuart Binny, Abhimanyu Mithun, S Arvind have international experience along with their skipper. Also, J Suchith, Shreyas Gopal and Mayank Agarwal have the experience of playing in the IPL which should work well for the side.

Vinay’s first-class career of Kumar

The 33-year-old must be looking forward to overcoming the horrible last season of his team and start afresh this year. Though he has proved his captaincy credentials before and would love to repeat the feats achieved a couple of years ago. He has been a prolific performer for his state side despite having a limited international experience with him.

The skipper has scalped a whopping 418 wickets in 115 first-class matches with as many as 20 five-wicket hauls to his name at an average of 23.53. He also has scored a couple of centuries with the bat which proves he is no mug with the bat as well.

Karnataka Squad:

R Vinay Kumar (captain), R Samarth, Abhishek Reddy, Mayank Agarwal, Mir Kaunian Abbas, Pavan Deshpande, CM Gautam (wicketkeeper), Stuart Binny, K Gowtham, A Mithun, S Arvind, Shreyas Gopal, J Suchith, D Nischal, Sharath Srinivas (wicketkeeper), Ronit More.