SMAT 2024: Karnataka name 15-man squad, Mayank Agarwal to lead

Karnataka named a 15-man squad for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024 on Friday, November 15. Mayank Agarwal is set to lead the side which has an impressive mix of experience and youth. Meanwhile, Manish Pandey has been named as Agarwal's deputy for the iconic T20 tournament.

The 17th edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will be played from November 23 to December 15. Karnataka have been placed in Group B alongside some formidable teams like Gujarat, Saurashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Baroda, among others.

Agarwal and Co. will begin their campaign on November 23 as they take on Uttarakhand. The former India opener was the highest run-getter for Karnataka in the previous edition of the tournament. Meanwhile, Krishnappa Gowtham, who was the leading wicket-taker last year for the team, has not been able to make the cut. It is important to note that Karnataka failed to make it to the knockouts last year as they finished third in their group behind Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

Shrijith KL and Chethan LR have been named as the two wicketkeepers in the squad. Devdutt Padikkal and Abhinav Manohar are two exciting young batters to look forward to. Meanwhile, Shreyas Gopal will be spearheading the spin-bowling department for the former two-time champions.

Karnataka squad for SMAT 2024

Mayank Agarwal (Captain), Manish Pandey (Vice-captain), Devdutt Padikkal, Abhinav Manohar, Shreyas Gopal, Smaran R, Shrijith KL (Wicketkeeper), Vijaykumar Vyshak, Vidyadhar Patil, Manoj Bhandage, Macneil H Noronha, Vasuki Koushik, Chethan LR (Wicketkeeper), Shubhang Hegde, Manvath Kumar L

Samit Dravid fails to earn maiden Karnataka call-up

Samit Dravid, who is the elder son of legendary India cricketer Rahul Dravid, will have to wait for his maiden Karnataka senior team call-up. The 19-year-old played a couple of handy knocks for Mysuru Warriors, who won the Maharaja T20 Trophy 2024 earlier this year. He was also named in the India Under-19 squad for the multi-format series against Australia in September-October.

Also Check: Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer included in Mumbai's probables for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru seamer, Vijaykumar Vyshak, who was picked in India's squad for the four-match T20I tour of South Africa, returns to the Karnataka setup for the T20 competition. He missed the last two rounds of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 due to his national commitments in the Rainbow Nation.