Vijay Hazare Trophy 2017/18: KL Rahul Joins Karnataka's Camp on the Eve of the Final

Karnataka received a big boost ahead of the final of Vijay Hazare Trophy, as KL Rahul has joined the camp.

The Indian batsman landed in India on Monday morning and soon joined the team’s camp on the eve of the final.

He had travelled to South Africa for the T20I series and straightway decided to play the final once it was clear that he would land in India well in time.

It is the second consecutive time when one of the finalist teams will have international boost ahead of the final.

Last year, it was Bengal team which received a big boost when Mohammed Shami got added to the side on the eve of the final.

However, Bengal lost a low scoring final to Tamil Nadu.

There are high chances of him opening the innings with Mayank Agarwal, which would mean that Karun Nair will bat in the middle order.

Should Karnataka win the final, Rahul will not be available to play Deodhar Trophy, as he is the part of the national side for Nidahas Trophy 2018.

There, he is expected to play al the three games.

He did not get a place in the playing XI even in one T20I against South Africa.

Meanwhile, the final of Vijay Hazare Trophy will be played between Karnataka and Saurashtra at Feroz Shah Kotla stadium.

Karnataka has high chances of winning the game, but if Saurashtra posts a win, it would be a big upset for the former.

Ravindra Jadeja, Saurashtra’s star all-rounder, will not bowl in the game, owing to a side strain.

The chances of Robin Uthappa playing this game are also low, as he is suffering from an ankle injury.

He also missed the semi-final game against Andhra Pradesh due to the same issue.

Squads –

Karnataka: Karun Nair (c), Mayank Agarwal, Ravikumar Samarth, Anirudha Joshi, Ritesh Bhatkal, CM Gautam (wk), Shreyas Gopal, Krishnappa Gowtham, Pradeep T, Pavan Deshpande, Prasidh Krishna, Praveen Dubey, Jagadeesha Suchith, Stuart Binny, Sreenath Aravind, Ronit More, Sharath BR, Devdutt Padikkal.

Saurashtra: Jaydev Shah, Avi Barot, Aarpit Vasavada, Himalaya Barad, Sheldon Jackson, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Ravindra Jadeja, Chirag Jani, Kamlesh Makvana, Prerak Mankad, Cheteshwar Pujara (c), Hardik Rathod, Shaurya Sanandia, Robin Uthappa, Samarth Vyas.

Follow Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018 here –

Video of the day –