Suchith to lead balanced Mysuru Warriors side in KPL

Mysuru: Venkatesh Prasad, mentor of

Mysuru Warriors

, “guaranteed a good fight” in the forthcoming season of the

Karnataka Premier League

(KPL), which is scheduled to begin on August 15. All-rounder J Suchith was named captain of the side on Thursday.

Prasad, former India fast bowler who has had coaching stints in the KPL, IPL, NCA and Indian team, revealed the Warriors is a talented side — a mixture of youth and experience — and promised that it will give the other seven sides a run for their money.

“The preparation has been good as has been the support and encouragement from the owner,” Prasad said. “The team is a mixture of experience and youth. My role is to help coach R Muralidar and the players with their batting and bowling and the team with strategies. Given the talent in the team, I am sure they will do well.”

Suchith, 24, has been with the Warriors since the inception of the KPL and owner Arjun Ranga said he had all the credentials to be an excellent captain. “Suchith has proved himself on various occasions and we are proud to have him as our captain,” Ranga said. “We are elated with the way the team has shaped up. We have been able to strike the right balance between youth and experience. We are extremely happy to have Prasad, an exemplary veteran cricketer, onboard and we hope his experience and expertise will take the team far. Winning is important but how we win is more important.”

Muralidhar, the head coach, echoed the view. “Suchith is an intelligent cricketer and has load of experience and exposure including stints with Mumbai Indians in the IPL,” he said. “Given these qualities, we felt he was the right choice as captain.”

Suchith said he was “delighted” to lead the team and that he hoped to lead by example. “We have title winners in the team with six or seven players having already won the KPL (with other sides),” Suchith said. “They have the experience of winning matches. We have to play good

cricket

all 40 overs and it is very important to stay calm. We will fight till the last ball.”

Ranga revealed the management had strengthened the team, especially its top order batting following a “weak performance” last year. The 18-member team also includes two players — Kishan Bedare and Gowtham Sagar — who were selected through the talent hunt competition conducted in Mysuru and Bengaluru.

Mysuru Warriors squad: J Suchith (captain), Amit Verma, K Gowtham, RajooBhatkal, B N Bhareth, S P Manjunath, Shoaib Manager, Arjun Hoysala, K V Siddharth, Prateek Jain, Vyshak Vijay Kumar, Sharath Srinivas, Manoj K H, Kushal Wadhwani, Luvnith Sisodia, Vinay Sagar, KishanBedare and Gowtham Sagar.


Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, Location Guesser and Mini Crossword.