Karnataka has made some changes to its Ranji Trophy squad for the second round of the Ranji Trophy season. Vijay Hazare Trophy hero Devdutt Padikkal has been made the captain of the team, while Indian Test stars have returned.
Indian players have started giving priority to domestic cricket. This development came as domestic cricket also started attracting the attention of fans due to international legends returning to play for their respective state teams.
BCCI’s mandate on domestic cricket has forced Indian stars to play in the Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy whenever time is available in between their international duties.
Devdutt Padikkal made captain for Ranji Trophy team
Karnataka, one of the most promising teams in Ranji Trophy history, has been playing some impeccable cricket at the domestic level and has continued to do so in this edition as well. Moreover, KSCA has given many talented cricketers to the Indian team in the long run.
In this season of Ranji Trophy, Mayank Agarwal started as the captain of the Karnataka team, and the team which is placed in Elite Group B, finished the first part of the tournament with 2 wins and 3 draws in the first six matches of this season.
They stood third in the table after Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. However, KSCA announced the name of a new captain midway through the season. In-form batsman Devdutt Padikkal, who had another dream run in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, has been named captain ahead of the clash against Punjab.
in bulk change #Karnataka #RanjiTrophy Team. Padikkal has been made the captain in place of Mayank. KL Rahul came back with Prasidh. Abhinav out, Karun out pic.twitter.com/W8IAMuXotS
– Manuja (@manojavierappa) 26 January 2026
KL Rahul and Prasidh Krishna returned to play for Karnataka
Indian batsman KL Rahul has returned to the Ranji Trophy and will be a part of the Karnataka playing XI against Punjab in the upcoming Ranji Trophy match. The Indian wicket-keeper batsman has devoted himself to domestic cricket, especially red-ball cricket, whenever he is free from international duties.
Along with opening batsman, fast bowler Prasidh Krishna has also been included in the 15-member squad by KSCA for the next match against Punjab in Mohali. Krishna played the last Test series for India in the deciding 5th Test against England at the Oval.
Despite taking 8 wickets in the last game and playing a key role in India’s stunning comeback, Krishna has missed out on a place in the starting eleven for another Test. He is not part of the ICC T20 World Cup squad for India and hence, has no matches scheduled until the IPL.
Karun Nair out, Abhinav Manohar out against Punjab
KSCA revealed their squad with many small surprises, but the one that came as the most surprise was the release of Karun Nair. Reportedly, he has been ruled out with some injury, although its nature could not be confirmed.
Karun Nair was the leading run-scorer for Karnataka in this season, with 614 runs in 6 matches and 8 innings. He scored at an average of 87.71, which included two centuries and a half-century. He also scored a double century for Karnataka in this season.
Middle-order batsman Abhinav Manohar, who was seriously out of form, has been dropped from the team for the final group-stage game of the season. However, Devdutt Padikkal was out for ducks twice in his last Ranji Trophy match.
Also read: Due to the biggest crisis of T20 World Cup 2026, Pakistan is ready to boycott the match with India.