Manish Pandey is set to play his first Ranji Trophy match of the season after being named in the 15-man squad for the quarterfinal clash against Jammu & Kashmir (February 20 to 24).
But Karun Nair, who has led the side in Pandey’s absence, will continue to skipper in Jammu. K.L. Rahul, who doesn’t figure in India’s Test squad that will play New Zealand, has however been rested.
“Rahul has a niggle, so he won’t be playing,” said Raghuram Bhat, chairman of the State Senior Selection Committee.
In-form speedster Prateek Jain has returned following a rest, in place of V. Koushik, while J. Suchith has taken Pravin Dubey’s spot. Top-order batsman D. Nischal has made way for Pandey.
The team: Karun Nair (Capt), R. Samarth, Devdutt Padikkal, Manish Pandey, Pavan Deshpande, Sharath Srinivas, Shreyas Gopal, K. Gowtham, A. Mithun, K.V. Siddharth, Prasidh Krishna, J. Suchith, Prateek Jain, Ronit More, B.R. Sharath.
