Sharath to miss Ranji Trophy final

Paceman HS Sharath will not be part of the Karnataka squad that will take on Maharashtra in the Ranji Trophy final beginning in Hyderabad from January 29. 

The 20-year-old, who hurt himself after landing on his right shoulder while trying to save a boundary during the quarterfinal tie against Uttar Pradesh here, still needs at least a week’s time to recover. The right-arm quick had been a vital cog of Karnataka’s bowling, forming a deadly three-pronged pace attack along with skipper R Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun. His 32-wicket haul from seven matches this season is only second behind Mithun’s 36 from nine matches.

“I’m disappointed on not being able to play the final,” said Sharath on Saturday even as Karnataka went through their paces. “...But some things are beyond our control and we just have to count on our blessings. For example, if I had got injured in the first match, I couldn’t have played until the quarterfinals. Injuries are a part of sport and we have to accept it. I believe this injury is a learning experience but having said that, I feel I could have contributed more to the team this season.”

Talking about his tumble that has put him out action Sharath blamed it on his overenthusiasm. “The crowd was egging me on to save a boundary and I guess I dived a little overenthusiastically. Otherwise, too, it was a crunch game and I wanted to save every run and took a hard hit.” Batting coach J Arun Kumar rued Sharath’s absence in the final. “It’s unfortunate that Sharath will miss the final,” he said.

The team: Vinay Kumar R (captain), Robin Uthappa, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Manish Pandey, Karun Nair, CM Gautam (vice-captain & wk), Shreyas Gopal, A Mithun, Ronit More, Abrar Kazi, KP Appanna, Ganesh Satish, Amit Verma, S Arvind.