Selectors crack the whip, Pandey replaces Vinay as skipper

BENGALURU: After Karnataka's crushing loss to Baroda in their fourth Vijay Hazare Group A encounter on Wednesday, selection committee chairman Raghuram Bhat and selector Fazal Khaleel were seen having a long chat with coaches Yere Goud and Sreenath Arvind. R Vinay Kumar was drawn into the huddle much later with the skipper wearing a disappointed look.
Two days on, the selectors finally decided to wield the axe and made significant changes in the team line-up for the next two matches against Vidarbha (Sept 30) and Railways (Oct 4).With the defending champion's chances of making the quarterfinals hanging by the thread, the biggest shake-up has come at the top with Vinay set to be replaced by Manish Pandey as captain. Pandey, who is currently in Dubai for the Asia Cup, is expected to join the side on Saturday and lead against Vidarbha on Sunday.
Although there has been talk of a leadership change in the Karnataka team for a while now, it is quite uncharacteristic, to see the change happen in the middle of the tournament. Pandey comes in with the experience of having led the state unit in the past and has also enjoyed a rich vein of form at home in white-ball cricket recently.
Leading India 'B', he scored 306 runs in four Quadrangular 'A' series matches which included an unbeaten century and two unconquered half-centuries. Given Vinay's experience and the fact that he has led the team for the better part of the last few years, the team management is sure to define his role in the coming days. With Pandey in and out of the national squad and a regular in the India 'A' team, it will be interesting to see if Vinay will be handed back the reins in Pandey's absence.
Gautam, Binny dropped
Having gone with a largely tried and tested team at the beginning of the season and losing three of the four outings, the team management has decided to make sweeping changes to the line-up. Seasoned wicketkeeper CM Gautam has been replaced by Sharath Srinivas and Anirudh Joshi has come in place of Stuart Binny. With Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair and Prasidh Krishna turning up for Board President's XI against West Indies in a two-day warm-up game, middle-order batsman Mir Kaunian Abbas and pacer T Pradeep, who is returning from an injury, have been added to the squad.
Squad: Manish Pandey (C), Vinay Kumar R, Samarth R, Anirudh Joshi, Pavan Deshpande, Gowtham K, Shreyas Gopal, Abhimanyu Mithun, Mir Kaunian Abbas, Suchith J, Abhishek Reddy, Pradeep T, Naveen MG, Sharath BR, Sharath Srinivas (both wicketkeepers). Coach: Yere K Goud; Bowling coach: Sreenath Arvind.