Rahul is almost certain to play the game with the upcoming Test tour to New Zealand in mind, similar to the step adopted in the case of all-rounder Washington Sundar. The BCCI on Thursday recalled Washington from India’s T20I squad for the five-match series against the West Indies, so that the all-rounder can appear in a few Ranji Trophy matches for Tamil Nadu ahead of the trip to New Zealand. India players KL Rahul and Prasidh Krishna were on Thursday included in Karnataka’s squad for their Ranji Trophy season opener against Andhra to be played at Vijayawada from October 11.
India pacer Prasidh too has been named in the squad but his participation is a matter of conjecture after suffering a hamstring injury to get ruled out of the ongoing ODI series against the Windies. Meanwhile, Samit Dravid, son of legendary Rahul Dravid, is included in the state squad for the Col CK Nayudu Trophy match against Vidarbha at Alur in the outskirts of the city. The 15-member squad will be led by promising batter Ravichandran Smaran, who will take over from Devdutt Padikkal.
The partnership was formally announced at a special ceremony held at the M. Karnataka squad: R Smaran (captain), KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Mayank Agarwal, A Gautam, KV Aneesh, Shreyas Gopal, Kruthik Krishna, Shikhar Shetty, Prasidh Krishna, Abhilash Shetty, Manvanth Kumar, LR Kumar, Ritesh Bhatkal, KL Shrijith. Chinnaswamy Stadium, which also witnessed the unveiling of the new team jersey for the 2026-27 season.
