Strong field for season's lung opener

K Thimmappaiah meet from Saturday

Some of the strong teams will vie for top honours in the KSCA Dr K Thimmappaiah memorial cricket tournament, the country’s domestic lung opener which kicks off at various grounds in Mysuru and Bengaluru from Friday.

Mumbai Cricket Association, Gujarat Cricket Association, Cricket Association of Bengal, Haryana Cricket Association will be in the 12-team fray, including three local teams -- KSCA XI, KSCA Colts and KSCA President’s XI.

The 12 teams have been equally divided into four zones where they will clash each on a round-robin basis in four-day matches. The top team from each group will qualify for the semifinals to played from August 9 at Alur grounds. The final is scheduled to be held at the M Chinnaswamy stadium from August 15.

All ‘B’ Zone matches will be played in Mysuru.

The KSCA XI is led by senior batsman-wicketkeeper CM Gautam while Nischal D will captain KSCA Colts. Kunal Kapoor has been named KSCA President’s XI skipper.
This is the last chance for fringe Karnataka players to stake their claim in the State Ranji Trophy squad.

Karnataka State Cricket Association squads: KSCA XI: Gautam CM (capt & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Samarth R, Abhishek Reddy, Pavan Desphande, Stuart Binny, Suchith J, Shreyas Gopal, Mir Kaunain Abbas, Gowtham K, Ronit More, Shishir Bhavane, Anurag Bajpai (wk), Koushik V, Harish Kumar R. Coach: PV Shashikanth; Manager: Siddaramau B; Physio: Jaba Prabu; Trainer: Irfan Ullal Khan.

KSCA Colts: Nischal D (capt), Naga Bharath, Shivam Mistra, Samarth Ooty, Abrar Kazi, Suneel N Raju, Sharath Srinivas, Vyshak Vijayakumar, Cariappa KC, Aditya Somanna, Sharan Gowda, Bhavesh Gulecha, Nikin Jose, Sharath BR (wk), Shrijith KL. Coach: Sudhindra Shinde; Manager: A Manohar; Physio: Manjunath T; Trainer: Pradeep G.
KSCA President’s XI: Kunal Kapoor (capt), Pawan KB, Arjun Hoysala, Siddharath KV, Anirudha Joshi, Avinash KC (wk), Mitrakant Yadav, Pravin Kumar Dubey, Ritesh Bhatkal, Pradeep T, Sharath HS, Naveen MG, Pritviraj Shikavat, Shubang Hegde, Abhinav Manohar. Coach: GK Anil Kumar; Manager: Ramesh Rao A; Physio: Sriranga; Trainer: Kiran.
‘A’ Zone: KSCA XI, Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, Assam Cricket Association, Tripura Cricket Association.

‘B’ Zone: Mumbai Cricket Association, Pubjab Cricket Association, Kerala Cricket Association, Gujart Cricket Association.

‘C’ Zone: KSCA Colts, Dr. DY Patil Cricket Academy, Cricket Association of Bengal, Jharkhand State Cricket Association.

‘D’ Zone: KSCA President's XI, Andhra Cricket Association, Haryana Cricket Association, Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association.