Shreyas set for Kerala move; Siddharth and Kadam Goa-bound

In what can be termed a mini exodus, at least three Karnataka players have been issued No Objection Certificates (NOC) to enable them to play for their desired states, reliable sources at the Karnataka State Cricket Association confirmed to DH on Thursday.

While leg-spinning all-rounder Shreyas Gopal has inked a deal with the Kerala senior state side, middle-order batters KV Siddharth and Rohan Kadam will be turning up for Goa from the upcoming season.

There is also a buzz that at least one more batter, who has been on the sidelines for a while now, is likely to seek an NOC to play for Vidarbha.

Though Shreyas got to play all but one of Karnataka's nine Ranji Trophy matches last season, what appears to have peeved him is the fact that he wasn't their preferred spinner in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament where he started in just four matches out of eight. Also, he got to bowl only about half the number of overs that his senior spin partner K Gowtham did in the Ranji Trophy.

The 29-year-old was, though, their regular fixture in the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy tournament.

Shreyas has been one of Karnataka's finest all-rounders, having amassed 3137 runs in 76 first-class matches at a healthy average of 34.47 with five hundreds and 13 half-centuries. With 218 wickets at 29.10 runs with a best of 9/108, he is one of the top all-rounders in domestic cricket at the moment.

With the presence of an established lot like Mayank Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal and Manish Pandey and an influx of young batters into the Karnataka side, Siddharth, who was benched the whole of last season, found it prudent to try his luck elsewhere. The promise that he would be playing all games in all three formats - an assurance that he sought from the KSCA but was rejected for obvious reasons - for Goa seemed to have influenced the 30-year-old's decision.

Siddharth, who was part of a largely young Karnataka squad that toured Namibia for a limited-over series, turned out for State in 20 first-class matches, helping himself to 1449 runs at an average of 44.51 with three hundreds and 10 fifties.

Kadam's Karnataka career had almost become stagnant with the attacking left-hander having played his last match for the State side way back in November 2021 - a one-day match against Tamil Nadu. Kadam made his debut in March 2017 but could only play four first-class, 13 List A and 29 T20 matches for Karnataka.