Kazi returns to Ranji squad

The inclusion of a fit-again left-arm spinner Abrar Kazi in place of KP Appanna is the lone change in the 15-member Karnataka squad that will travel to Delhi for their final Group A match against hosts beginning December 30.

Appanna went wicketless in the 14 overs he bowled in Mumbai’s first innings in the previous match here while skipper R Vinay Kumar didn’t even bowl him in the second innings, preferring debutant all-rounder Shreyas Gopal’s leg-spin and part-time off-breaks of R Samarth, another debutant.

Karnataka, who defeated Mumbai for their fourth consecutive win, have already booked their place in the knockouts while for Delhi, on 19 points, even a win with bonus point will not ensure them an automatic berth in the quarterfinals.

Final league tie at Kotla

Meanwhile, Delhi will be playing their final at the Ferozeshah Kotla and not Roshanara Ground, Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) vice-president Chetan Chauhan confirmed on Thursday.

Delhi have played all their home games at Roshanara despite having an international venue like Kotla, triggering a controversy of sorts within the DDCA.

They are now struggling to make the quarterfinals, lying fifth behind Punjab, Mumbai, Gujarat and Karnataka.


Karnataka squad: R Vinay Kumar (captain), CM Gautam (vice-captain, wk), KL Rahul, Samarth R, Manish Pandey, Karun Nair, Shreyas Gopal, Stuart Binny, A Mithun, HS Sharath, Abrar Kazi, Ganesh Satish, Mayank Agarwal, Amit Verma, Ronit More. Batting coach: J Arun Kumar; Bowling coach: Mansur Ali Khan; Manager: B Siddaramu; Physio: Vasanth M; Trainer: Shravan. Video analyst: Santhosh; Logistic manager: A Ramesh Rao.
The Cooch Behar U-19 Karnataka team for the match against Vidarbha to be played in Nagpur from December 29-January 1: Abhishek Reddy (captain), Abhishek AP, Rishab G M, Abhinav Manohar, Vishnu P, Sharath B R (wk), Suhas S, Aditya Somanna, KN Bharath, Prateek Jain, Shimon Luiz, Milind V R, Sonuak Biswas, Avinash D, Nischal D. Coaches: R Muralidhar and Vijay Madylkar; Physio: Sriranga; Manager: YB Basavaraj; Video analyst: Nandish.