Defending champions Karanataka kick-start their Ranji Trophy campaign against Assam without their star batsman KL Rahul.
The prolific opener was left out of the opening match beginning on Thursday in Guwahati after getting no clearance from the National Cricket Academy physio Andrew Leipus. The right-hander had sustained a strained quadricep during the Test series in Sri Lanka and according to State chief selector R Sudhakar Rao, the batsman will be out for at least another two weeks which makes him doubtful the second match against Haryana here.
Along with left-arm seamer S Arvind and all-rounder Stuart Binny, Rahul will be the third first-choice player that Karnataka will be without as they launch their title defence.
The Karnataka squad, meanwhile, fresh on the back of an assured four-wicket win against Bangladesh ‘A’ in Mysuru, had its first training session at the NCA on Saturday.
Skipper R Vinay Kumar, who was forced to sit out the three-day game with a bout of viral fever, returned to train with the rest of the squad, also joined by Rahul.
Batting and bowling coaches J Arun Kumar and Mansoor Ali Khan kept a keen eye on proceedings along with Vinay.
Abhimanyu Mithun, Arvind, Binny, Karun Nair and Shreyas Gopal formed the list of players missing due to various commitments.
Shreyas, Mithun and Karun are part of the India ‘A’ squad that will take on Bangladesh ‘A’ in a three-day game, which begins on Sunday while Arvind and Binny are part of the national senior team set-up.
The squad for Assam match: R Vinay Kumar (Captain), CM Gautam (V-Captain, WK), Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Karun Nair, Samarth R, Abhishek Reddy, Shreyas Gopal, Udit Patel, A Mithun, HS Sharath, J Suchith, Shishir Bhavane, Mayank Agarwal, Prasidh M Krishna. Batting coach: J Arun Kumar; Bowling coach: Mansur Ali Khan; Manger: B Siddaramu; Physio: Shravan; Trainer: Prashanth Pujara.
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