Chougule to lead State in Buchi Babu trophy

Karnataka are placed alongside TNCA President’s XI, Vidarbha and Mumbai in Group C of the competition, and will open their campaign against the President’s XI at the ICL-Gurunanak grounds on Sunday. The tournament follows the same format at the KSCA all-India invitation tournament, with matches being of two-day duration on a 100-overs-a-side basis. The winner of each of the four groups in the 16-team competition will make it to the semifinals.

Rested from the KSCA XI that won their own tournament at the Chinnaswamy stadium on Saturday are Sunil Joshi, R Vinay Kumar, Manish Pandey and B Akhil, while Robin Uthappa -- who turned out for Air India -- has also been given the tournament off.

Stuart Binny finds himself in the 14-man squad in a further indication that he will figure in the scheme of things for the first-class season ahead, while Chougule’s elevation to the captaincy has to be seen as an attempt by the State selectors to identify leadership skills within the ranks.

K Sanath Kumar will be the coach while selector and former India left-arm spinner Raghuram Bhat will accompany the team as manager.

The squad: Deepak Chougule (capt), KB Pawan, CM Gautam, Amit Verma, C Raghu, Thilak Naidu, Chetan William, Udit Patel, A Mithun, S Aravind, KP Appanna, SL Akshay, Stuart Binny, Sunil Raju. Coach: K Sanath Kumar. Manager: A Raghuram Bhat. Physio: Ramakanth.