Manish Pandey to lead Karnataka in Ranji Trophy 2021-22

Experienced batter Manish Pandey has been named captain of the Karnataka side for the Ranji Trophy 2021-22 season. The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) on Tuesday announced the 20-member squad for this year’s Ranji season.

India’s premier domestic tournament will be held in two phases this season, split by the Indian Premier League (IPL). While the first phase will take place from February 10 to March 15, the second phase will be played from May 30 to June 26. The IPL is likely to begin in the last week of March.

Taking to their social media handles, KSCA shared an update on the Karnataka squad for the Ranji Trophy. While Pandey has been named captain, Samarth R has been appointed vice-captain. Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Devdutt Padikkal, Shreyas Gopal and Prasidh Krishna are also part of the 20-member squad.

“Manish Pandey will lead the squad of 20 in our Ranji Trophy Campaign!" KSCA captioned the post. "Wishing the team all success in their hunt for Karnataka’s 9th Ranji title.”

Karnataka have been placed in Elite C group with Puducherry, Railways and Jammu & Kashmir.

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

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"We don’t view it as an easy group” - Karnataka coach

On paper, it seems Karnataka are in an easy group. However, coach Yere Goud asserted that his team are not going to take any match lightly.

Speaking to The Sportstar, he said:

“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.”

Pointing to the format, he added that only the group topper qualifies for the knockout rounds.

“So we can’t afford to have even one bad session," Goud elaborated. "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).”

Karnataka, who last won the Ranji Trophy in the 2014-15 season, will play their matches in Chennai.