Dravid to lead State in Ranji Trophy

Uthappa among five stumpers in probables list

The former Indian captain had astutely moulded a young side into a fighting fit unit last season and taken them all the way to the title clash against Mumbai, but had to miss the final owing to international commitments in Bangladesh.

Under Robin Uthappa, Karnataka went down to Mumbai by six runs in the final in Mysore, but throughout the season, the Dravid influence on the team was all too obvious. Young guns like Manish Pandey, Ganesh Satish and Amit Verma with the bat, and Abhimanyu Mithun with the ball stepped up to the plate and made a name for themselves, and Karnataka have every reason to believe that they will build on the gains of the last season when a new campaign gets under way next month.

The Test matches against New Zealand will keep Dravid out of the first few matches, but the State selectors haven’t named a deputy yet as they announced a list of 33 probables on Wednesday.

Interestingly, Uthappa is one of five designated wicket-keepers in the list, a fact that will keep CM Gautam on his toes. Gautam had a wonderful first-class season after replacing Thilak Naidu behind the stumps, making hundreds in both the Ranji and Duleep Trophies, and it remains to be seen if he is made a sacrifical lamb as Uthappa looks to regain his place in the Indian one-day side by offering his services as a wicketkeeper-batsman.

The list of probables: Rahul Dravid (capt), Robin Uthappa (wk), Sunil Joshi, NC Aiyappa, R Vinay Kumar, B Akhil, KB Pawan (wk), Devraj Patil (wk), Ganesh Satish, Rajoo Bhatkal, Udit Patel, Sunil Raju, KP Appanna, C Raghavendra, CM Gautam (wk), Amit Verma, S Arvind, Abhimanyu Mithun, Manish Pandey, KL Rahul, Aditya Sagar, Ryan Ninan, Mayank Agarwal, Kunal Kapoor, Stuart Binny, Abrar Kazi, SL Akshay, BN Bharath, Asghar Pasha, Nitin Bhille (wk), Anirudh Joshi, Karun Nair, Bharath Chipli. Coach: K Sanath Kumar. Assistant coach: Somashekar Shiraguppi.

In addition, the following bowlers will assist the probables at the nets: Zahoor Farooqi, P Magizhendan, SK Moinuddin, K Gowtham, Arjun Shetty, Ronit More, BC Tarun Muthanna, HS Sharath, M Parappa. Raju named skipper

Sunil Raju will lead the Karnataka under-22 team in the Elite Group C league clash against Gujarat for the Col CK Nayudu Trophy in Ahmedabad from October 25 to 28.

The squad: Sunil Raju (capt), Manish Pandey, Mayank Agarwal, Abrar Kazi, S Sanjay Kumar, Nitin Bhille (wk), KL Rahul, Suraj Sampath, Sadiq Kirmani (wk), Arjun Hoysala, DV Anish, K Gowtham, Aditya Sagar, BC Tarun Muthanna, P Magizhendan. Coach: PV Shashikanth. Manager: MS Ravindra. Physio: Ramakanth.