Published: Sep 28, 2018, 11:08 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 28, 2018, 11:08 PM (IST)
Karnataka selectors Raghuram Bhatt and Fazal Khaleel have decided to strip Vinay Kumar of the List A captaincy after the defending champions failed to register a win so far in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018-19 after four matches.
Their qualification for the quarterfinals looking bleak and for the next two games (against Vidarbha and Railways), they have named Manish Pandey as the skipper with experienced campaigners Stuart Binny and CM Gautam dropped from the squad.
Pandey will be joining the team after the Asia Cup in UAE. Vinay Kumar has lead the team for many years now overseeing the team’s multiple Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy wins.
However, with losses to Maharashtra, Mumbai and Baroda and an abandoned game against Goa, Karnataka are winless and at No.7 in the points tally in Elite A.
With Maharashtra and Mumbai in rollicking form in Elite A and Delhi and Andhra leading the charts in Elite B, Karnataka’s quarterfinal hopes are more or less over. Five team from Elite A and B combined will move on to the quarters.
While the likes of Pandey and KL Rahul are likely to return, they will lose services of Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair and Prasidh Krishna to Board President’s XI against West Indies starting next week.
Middle-order batsman Mir Kaunian Abbas and pacer T Pradeep have been added to the squad while Gautam, 54 runs in three matches, is replaced by wicketkeeper Sharath Srinivas while Binny, one wicket for 78 runs in two matches, has been replaced by Anirudh Joshi.
