Ranji Trophy 2024-25: Transitioning Karnataka seek strong start against MP

Bengaluru: A transitioning Karnataka will be looking to end a decade of disappointment as they kick off their quest for the Ranji Trophy, the heavyweights hoping their young blood takes the big stride forward.

Transitions are never easy in a team sport even when there’s an abundance of talent and a strong system in place, and Karnataka have experienced it the hard way since lifting the coveted domestic trophy for an eighth time back in 2014-15.

While they’ve won the Vijay Hazare Trophy (2017-18, 2019-20) and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (2018-19, 2019-20) a couple of times each since the magical highs reached by R Vinay Kumar and Co, they’ve fluffed the lines often in the premier domestic first-class competition.

A case in point is last season where they seemingly settled for a draw in their final group game against Chandigarh in a bid to avoid Saurashtra in the quarterfinal. They were fine travelling to Nagpur for the last-eight clash against Vidarbha but their batters failed to rise to the occasion that even had chief selector J Abhiram fuming.

Now, the current crop, still led by the old hand of Mayank Agarwal, will be hoping to get the ball rolling on a strong note against Madhya Pradesh at the Holkar Stadium, a clash that will be a proper early litmus test of their credentials.

In the 16-member squad announced by the selection committee for the opening two games against MP and Kerala (at home), exactly half have barely any elite first-class experience.

Smaran R, wicket-keeper Luvnith Sisodia and Abhilash Shetty are yet to make their first-class debuts while Mohsin Khan and Sujay Sateri, expected to don the wicketkeeping gloves in the opener, have played one game each.

Vidyadhar Patil and Kishan S Bedare have featured in three games each with 18-year-old left-arm spinner Hardik Raj the most experienced amongst the new lot with five caps under his belt.

Apart from having to look at the future, the selectors were forced into blooding new faces because a bunch of reasonably experienced players chose to ply their trade for other states following seasons of indifferent performances.

How many of the eight newbies get to play consistently in the long and arduous season remains to be seen but they won’t have much time to settle in considering Karnataka are placed in a tricky Elite Group C where barring Bihar, the rest of them hold decent pedigree.

What this means is that the seasoned duo of Agarwal and Manish Pandey, named the vice-captain, will have to do the bulk of heavy lifting in the batting department. While Agarwal, who still harbours hopes of donning the national colours again, has maintained his consistency, Pandey has blown hot and cold and the veteran will need to address that immediately.

The season will also be an important one for Devdutt Padikkal. The gifted 24-year-old opener made his Test debut last season against England but is back to domestic duty because the big guns are back for the country.

He’s still on the radar of the national selectors and a strong start in the Ranji Trophy could brighten his chances of making the squad for the all-important Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.

The same applies to pacer Prasidh Krishna, returning after a long lay-off with injury. Once tipped as the successor to Ishant Sharma owing to his tall frame and the ability to be a good holding bowler, Prasidh has been laid low by a succession of injuries that have dented his India prospects.

The 28-year-old made a good return in the Duleep Trophy and he’ll be gunning for strong performances in the opening leg of the Ranji Trophy that could pave the way for his India return.

Amidst these sub-plots, Karnataka hope their main story of transformation to being mighty again happens successfully.

Squad: Mayank Agarwal (captain), Nikin Jose SJ, Devdutt Padikkal, Smaran R, Manish Pandey (vice-captain), Shreyas Gopal, Sujay Sateri (wk), Hardik Raj, Vyshak V, Prasidh M Krishna, Koushik V, Luvnith Sisodia (wk), Mohsin Khan, Vidyadhar Patil, Kishan S Bedare, Abhilash Shetty.

Group C fixtures: Madhya Pradesh vs Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh vs Bengal, Haryana vs Bihar, Kerala vs Punjab.