The in-form batsman KL Rahul is set to play the Ranji Trophy 2019-20 semi-finals for Karnataka against Bengal. The two teams will compete with each other at Eden Gardens in Kolkata from 29th February.
The Karnataka-based batsman Rahul had made himself unavailable for the quarterfinals against Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) as he had just returned from the New Zealand tour after completing the limited-overs leg. Though Rahul will be with his team in the marquee clash.
A big opportunity for KL Rahul:
Rahul has shown his versatility in the New Zealand tour. He scored runs from every given position and played some match-winning knocks on Kiwis shores.
In the T20I series, he was the opening partner of Rohit Sharma as well as he donned the gloves. He was adjudged player of the series for his amazing run strike. In five matches, he scored 224 runs in the T20I series.
On the other hand, in the ODI series, the wicketkeeper-batsman was the second-highest scorer for India, collecting 204 runs against the Blackcaps. Although after being prolific in shorter formats, he could not earn the place in the Test squad for Team India.
Thus, playing in the Ranji Trophy is a big opportunity for Rahul. If he showcases his power with the bat for Karnataka, he might earn the place back in Team for the longest format.
Hat-trick for Karnataka:
Notably, Karnataka has won the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019-20 and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019-20 under the captaincy of Manish Pandey. And there might be chances that Karnataka can lift the trophy Ranji season too which can be a hat-trick for the team in a particular year.
Meanwhile, Pandey had played in the quarter-final match against J&K, scoring 37 and 35 in both innings as his team won by 167 runs.
Karnataka Squad for Ranji Trophy 2019-20 semi-final against Bengal:
Karun Nair (capt.), R. Samarth, Devdutt Padikkal, Manish Pandey, K.L. Rahul, Sharath Srinivas, Shreyas Gopal, K. Gowtham, A. Mithun, K.V. Siddharth, Prasidh Krishna, J. Suchith, Prateek Jain, Ronit More, and B.R. Sharath.