Bengaluru, Feb 13: Experienced opener Mayank Agarwal will lead Karnataka in their final Elite Group C Ranji Trophy match against Chandigarh in Hubli, beginning from Friday.
The former champions are currently leading Group C with 24 points and they just require to take the first innings lead against Chandigarh to progress to the knockouts.
Tamil Nadu are the second placed team in this group with 22 points. Chandigarh are seventh with five points from six matches.
However, Karnataka will not have the services of in-form Devdutt Padikkal as the left-hander has been drafted into the India Test squad for the Tests against England in place of still-recuperating KL Rahul.
India under-19 star Dheeraj Gowda has been drafted into the 15-man squad. Gowda was part of the India side that finished runners-up to Australia in the ICC Under-19 World Cup at South Africa recently.
Karnataka squad: Mayank Agarwal (captain), Nikin Jose (vice-captain), Ravikumar Samarth, Manish Pandey, Sharath Srinivas (wk), KV Aneesh, Vasuki Koushik, Vysakh Vijayakumar, Kishan Bedare, Hardik Raj, Vidwath Kaverappa, M Venkatesh, Sujay Sateri (wk), K Shashikumar, Dheeraj Gowda; Coach: PV Shashikanth. (PTI)