Karnataka’s twin red-ball success portends a bright future

Karnataka's junior cricket success signals a promising future for the senior team, with young talent making their mark.

Karnataka hasn’t won the Ranji Trophy in nearly a decade. But the twin red-ball titles won by the State’s colts this year are proof enough that the foundation is intact and benefits could soon be reaped at the senior level.

In January, Karnataka secured its maiden Cooch Behar (U-19) Trophy, and on Wednesday, clinched the Col. CK Nayudu (U-23) Trophy, also for the first time.

“It is personally very satisfying,” said coach Yere Goud. “The moment the team was given to me, I knew that they had the potential to win.

“I knew most of the boys since they were in the 16-19 age group. That helped in understanding them because I came in the middle of the season. A lot of credit should go to the boys. They were desperate to win and you saw the result.”

In a sense, the success was an emphatic vindication of the players’ talent, which the selectors recognised even before the silverware was annexed. The Karnataka senior side saw as many as seven debutants in the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy, with five of them — K. Shashikumar (21), Rohit Kumar (23), Dheeraj Gowda (17), K.V. Aneesh (22) and Hardik Raj (18) — from the age-group squads.

Karnataka also moved away from its senior spinners like K. Gowtham and J. Suchith. The inexperience showed, but chairman of selectors J. Abhiram revealed the thinking behind the calls.

“Even with the seniors, we lost the Vijay Hazare Trophy,” Abhiram pointed out. “If you want to look ahead to the next six or seven years, we have to groom these young boys and instil some confidence.