Pandey to lead batting-heavy team

Bengaluru: Former champions Karnataka will field a star-studded batting-heavy team for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament beginning next month. Seasoned batsman Manish Pandey, who missed the previous edition of the competition due to injury, will lead the 20-member squad.
Karnataka have been placed in Group B, to be played in Guwahati, alongside Mumbai, Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Baroda and Services.

Although the teams will play the competition in a bio-secure environment, Karnataka have decided to go with 10 batsmen and an equal number of bowlers, stretching their resources to manage the workload of their bowlers. Three new faces — big-hitting Abhinav Manohar, wicketkeeper-batsman Nihal Ullal and pacer Vidhyadhar Patil — have been drafted in. The batting line-up is one of the most formidable in the contest. With an eye on the forthcoming IPL auctions, Karnataka’s best will be on display. The line-up includes Mayank Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal, Rohan Kadam, Karun Nair and Anirudha Joshi.
The spin department comprises K Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, J Suchith, Pravin Dubey and KC Cariappa. The pace battery will be led by Prasidh Krishna. Ronit More, who is recovering from injury has been left out, while medium-pacer V Koushik failed to impress the selectors again after failing to make the cut among the probables. Also missing from the line-up last season’s Vijay Hazare Trophy skipper R Samarth.
The squad: Manish Pandey (C), Mayank Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal, Siddharth KV, Rohan Kadam, Anirudha A Joshi, Abhinav Manohar, Karun Nair, Sharath BR (WK), Nihal Ullal (WK), Shreyas Gopal, Gowtham K, Suchith J, Pravin Dubey, Cariappa KC, Prasidh M Krishna, Prateek Jain, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Darshan MB, Vidyadhar Patil. Head coach: Yere Goud; Bowling coach: Arvind Sreenath; Fielding coach: Deepak A Chougule; Physio: Jaba Prabhu; Asst physio: Vrushab P; Strength & conditioning coach: A T Rajamani Prabhu; Masseur: Somasundar CM; Video analyst: Vinod Kumar; Manager: Anutosh Poll.