Manish Pandey named Karnataka captain for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021-22; Agarwal, Padikkal included

Seasoned batter Manish Pandey has been named the captain of Karnataka's 20-man squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021-22, which is set to commence on November 4, 2021.

The opening duo of Mayank Agarwal and Devdutt Padikkal have also been included in the squad named for the group stages, while KL Rahul misses out owing to national team commitments.

Pandey returns to the side after missing out last season due to a tennis elbow injury, and he will take over captaincy duties from Karun Nair, who led the side in the former's absence in January this year.

Pavan Deshpande, who was Karnataka's vice-captain for the 2020-21 edition has not made the cut, and Abhimanyu Mithun's recent retirement from all forms of cricket makes him a notable absentee from the squad as well.

Karnataka eager win their third Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Having failed to get to the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the first 10 editions of the competition, Karnataka silenced all critics with back-to-back titles, first in 2018-19 and then the 2019-20 season.

However, a dismal batting performance in the first quarterfinal of the previous 2020-21 season against Punjab saw them bow out without entering the Top 4. This time though, with big names returning to the side on the back of good form in the IPL, Karnataka will fancy their chances of picking up their third title.

Karnataka's schedule for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021-22 [Group stage games in Guwahati]

Match 1: Karnataka v Mumbai [November 4]

Match 2: Karnataka v Chhattisgarh [November 5]

Match 3: Karnataka v Services [November 6]

Match 4: Karnataka v Baroda [November 8]

Match 5: Karnataka v Bengal [November 9]

Karnataka squad for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021-22

Manish Pandey (C), Mayank Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal, KV Siddharth, Rohan Kadam, Anirudha Joshi, Abhinav Manohar, Karun Nair, Sharath BR, Nihal Ullal, Shreyas Gopal, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jagadeesha Suchith, Pravin Dubey, KC Cariappa, Prasidh Krishna, Prateek Jain, Vyshak Vijaykumar, MB Darshan, Vidyadhar Patil.

Head coach: Yere Goud

Bowling coach: Sreenath Arvind

Fielding coach: Deepak Chougule