Ranji Trophy knockouts newsfile: Injured Aditya Tare ruled out of Mumbai's semi-final against UP

Aditya Tare, the Mumbai wicketkeeper, has been ruled out of the Ranji Trophy semi-final against Uttar Pradesh due to a finger injury. Tare picked up the injury on the fourth day of the quarter-final against Uttarakhand in Bengaluru last week.

Hardik Tamore, the second wicketkeeper in the squad, is likely to step in for Tare, while Prasad Pawar has been called into the squad as a reinforcement.

Tamore, who led Mumbai's Under-25s to a title win at the CK Nayudu Trophy in April, has so far featured in four first-class matches, the last of which came over two years ago. When he last played, Tamore featured as a specialist batter under Tare, who was then captaining the side. Opening the batting, Tamore scored a second-innings 113 in that game against Madhya Pradesh; it was his maiden first-class hundred.

The injury is a blow to Mumbai, given Tare’s experience and stature. Tare, a Ranji-Trophy-winning captain, has featured in 80 first-class matches, and is seen as a mentor to the younger group of players coming through.

Mumbai beat Uttarakhand by a record 725 runs last week to enter the Ranji semi-finals, with Tare contributing a quickfire half-century in the second innings. He also effected two dismissals in the match.

Prasidh Krishna will miss the upcoming Ranji Trophy quarter-finals for Karnataka starting June 6 because of workload management. The fast bowler is part of India’s Test squad that is set to leave for England in the second week of June for the rescheduled Edgbaston Test.

Karnataka have named an otherwise full-strength squad, with opener Mayank Agarwal back for the state side after being left out of India’s Test squad for the first time since his debut series in December 2018.

Karnataka will also have the services of Devdutt Padikkal, Karun Nair and Manish Pandey, the captain. KL Rahul, though, is not part of the side as he is due to lead India’s T20I squad for the home series against South Africa beginning June 9 in Delhi.

Karnataka’s pace attack appears thin on experience, with Ronit More being the most capped with 31 first-class matches. The others - V Koushik, Vyshak Vijaykumar, M Venkatesh and Vidwath Kaverappa - have a combined experience of five matches. In comparison, the spin department is stronger with the inclusion of legspinner Shreyas Gopal and allrounders K Gowtham and J Suchith.

Karnataka will play Uttar Pradesh in Alur from June 6. This season's Ranji Trophy is being held in two phases due to the after-effects of Covid-19, with teams having played just three matches in the league phase. With two wins in three matches, Karnataka topped Group C, having pipped nearest competitors Railways for a spot in the knockouts.

Squad: Manish Pandey (capt), R Samarth (vice-captain), Mayank Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal, Karun Nair, KV Siddharth, D Nischal,  Sharath Srinivas (wk), BR Sharath (wk), Shreyas Gopal, K Gowtham, J Suchith, Shubhang Hedge, KC Cariappa, Ronit More, Vyshak Vijaykumar, V Koushik, M Venkatesh, Vidwath Kaverappa, Kishan Bedare