Ranji Trophy 2021-22: Karnataka announce 20-member squad, Manish Pandey named captain

India’s primary First-Class competition, Ranji Trophy 2022 is set to get underway on February 17 and players would be raring to make a mark. The tournament couldn’t take place in the last couple of years due to the COVID-19 issues. Hence, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) would want to conduct this tournament without any hassle.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) on Tuesday (February 8) announced the 20-member squad for this year’s Ranji Trophy. Veteran batter Manish Pandey has been named captain and the 32-year-old would be determined to take his side to the title. The likes of Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Devdutt Padikkal, Shreyas Gopal and Prasidh Krishna are also part of Karnataka’s squad.

“Manish Pandey will lead the squad of 20 in our Ranji Trophy Campaign!Wishing the team all success in their hunt for Karnataka’s 9th Ranji title,” the official page of KSCA wrote on Twitter while naming the squads. Notably, Karnataka have been slotted in Elite C group alongside Puducherry, Railways and Jammu & Kashmir.

🚨Manish Pandey will lead the squad of 20 in our Ranji Trophy Campaign!

Wishing the team all success in their hunt for Karnataka’s 9th Ranji title 💪#KSCA #Karnataka #RanjiTrophy #BCCI #DomesticCricket pic.twitter.com/YfPMPlU6b6

— KSCAOfficial (@kscaofficial1) February 8, 2022

We don’t view it as an easy group: Karnataka coach Yere Goud

While many reckon topping this group won’t be a hefty task for Karnataka, coach Yere Goud asserted that his team is not going to take any match lightly. “We don’t view it as an easy group. We played J&K in the quarterfinal in the last edition (Karnataka won the match). Railways have done well in the past, and Puducherry did well in the one-dayers and almost qualified for the knockout rounds,” he was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

“We can’t afford to have even one bad session. We will treat all the group games like knockout matches. If we want to win the Ranji Trophy this time, then it’s about winning six games (three group games and three knockout games),” he added further.

Karnataka Ranji Trophy squad: Manish Pandey (captain), Samarth R (vice-captain), Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Devdutt Padikkal, Siddharth KV, Nischal D, Aneeshwar Gautam, Shubhang Hegde, K Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Suchith J, KC Cariappa, Sharath Srinivas (wk), Sharath BR, Prasidh Krishna, Ronit More, Venkatesh M, Vyshak V, Vidyadhar Patil