Robin Uthappa omitted from Karnataka squad for Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Tamil Nadu

In what could be an interesting decision, Karnataka have omitted one of the most experienced batsman- Robin Uthappa- from their squad, which would face Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal starting from the 23^rd of December in Vishakapatnam.

The team have added centurion from the Chennai Test KL Rahul, triple centurion from the very same game Karun Nair and limited-overs batsman Manish Pandey to their arsenal, thereby indication that the services of their most experienced player at the top of the order won’t be needed.

"The newcomers have done well and it would have been unfair to drop them, so we have taken the decision keeping the future of Karnataka cricket in mind."

“With the three batsmen back, selection was a tough process. We collectively decided to rest Robin since we couldn't play him in the XI,” The Chairman of selectors R Sudhakar Rao said.

This isn't the first time the Uthappa has found the axe coming his way this season. He was not part of the setup that won against Maharashtra in Mohali last month and has made a mere 328 runs in 12 innings this season, with just a solitary hundred which came against Assam in Mumbai.

The head coach of the state J Arun Kumar admitted that while there was nothing wrong with the batsman, one had to have a look at the numbers sometimes and make decisions based on them.

"Last year, at the start of the season, he was trying out a few things. After a point, I told him to stop focussing on that and focus on making runs. Soon after that, he started making runs. Even this season, I was hoping something like that would happen.

"There is nothing wrong with his batting, but sometimes numbers matter, especially when people are waiting to get a chance. It's just the numbers," he said.

While certainly numbers are important to judge the form of a cricketer, it does beg the question of whether Karnataka have made the right call to not pick Uthappa in a knockout encounter.

The Kodava-lad is currently in his 10^th year as a professional cricketer and has featured in 130 matches, amassing 8793 runs at an average of 41.28. He was part of the side that won back-to-back- Ranji Trophy titles in 2014 and 2015 and perhaps his experience would have come in handy against Tamil Nadu.

Here’s the Karnataka squad that will head to Vizag for the Quarterfinal:

Vinay Kumar (capt), KL Rahul, R Samarth, Manish Pandey, Karun Nair (vice-capt), Stuart Binny, CM Gautam (wk), Kaunain Abbas, Abhimanyu Mithun, S Aravind, K Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Pavan Deshpande, Abrar Kazi, David Mathias, Mayank Agarwal