Uthappa, Mithun to miss Mushtaq Ali

Batsman Robin Uthappa and paceman A Mithun have been left out of Karnataka’s T20 squad that will take part in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (South Zone) tournament to be held from January 29 to February 6 in Chennai.

It is learnt that both players are not fit and the same was conveyed to Raghuram Bhat-chaired Senior Selection Committee which met here on Monday to pick the side. Another notable absentee is leg-spinning all-rounder Shreyas Gopal who will be drafted into the State under-23 side that will take on Haryana from Feb 1 here in the CK Nayudu Trophy tournament.

The 15-member Mushtaq Ali side will be led by R Vinay Kumar who will have Karun Nair as his deputy. Karnataka will miss the services of their star batsmen KL Rahul and Manish Pandey who are part of India’s T20 squad that will take on England from Jan 26.

The team: R Vinay Kumar (captain), Karun Nair (vice-captain), CM Gautam (wk), Stuart Binny, Mayank Agarwal, Samrath R, J Suchith, K Gautham, KC Cariappa KC, S Arvind, Shishir Bhavane, Anirudha Joshi, Pavan Deshpande, T Pradeep, Mohd Taha. Batting coach: J Arunkumar; Assistant coach: Mansur Ali Khan; Manager: B Siddaramu; Logistics manager: A Ramesh Rao; Physio: Jaba Prabhu; Trainer: Prashant Pujar.