Dravid to lead Karnataka in Vijay Hazare Trophy

 
This will be the first competitive outing for Dravid since the second Test against Bangladesh in January when  a rising delivery from Bangladesh pacer Shahadat Hossain injured his jaw.

Dravid underwent treatment at a Dhaka hospital before undergoing a minor corrective surgery on his upper jaw in a Bangalore hospital. The injury had forced Dravid to skip the just-concluded Test series against South Africa.

“I have been doing physical training for a while now,  so it is nice to get back into cricket and play a few game,” Dravid said.

Dravid’s presence will be a huge boost for the young Karnataka outfit that had made some rapid strides in this domestic season. Karnataka finished runners-up both in Ranji Trophy and South Zone one-dayers for Subbiah Pillai Trophy, and Dravid’s inspired captaincy had played a huge role in harnessing a bunch of exciting but raw talent that eventually vindicated the State selectors’ move to place faith on youth.

“It’s a good challenge for a young team and hopefully we can keep the good form of the season going till the end. This is the last tournament of the season for Karnataka, so it will be nice to finish off playing some good cricket.

“This has been a good season for a young Karnataka side, so it will be a challenge for them to finish on a high,” Dravid added.

RCB camp from March 5
Meanwhile, Royal Challengers Bangalore, runners-up in the second edition of the Indian Premier League, will begin their pre-season camp from March 5 at the M Chinnaswamy stadium.  Coach Ray Jennings will arrive in Bangalore on March 1, and will start the preparations for the IPL III by taking a look at a pool of 17 players outside the already-released list of 23 players.

Karnataka team: Rahul Dravid (captain), Robin Uthappa, Ganesh Satish, Manish Pandey, Amit Verma, CM Gautam, R Vinay Kumar, A Mithun, Udit B Patel, KP Appanna, Raajoo Bhatkal, KL Rahul, S Arvind, Stuart Binny, SL Akshay, Jonathan Rongsen. Coach: K Sanath Kumar, Assistant coach: Somashekar Shiraguppi.