Struggling K'taka gets Dravid boost against Andhra

Mysore, Nov 15 (UNI) Former Team India captain Rahul Dravid, now under a lean patch in test cricket, would figure in the Karnataka team that takes on Andhra in the four day Ranji Trophy Elite B group match beginning at the Gangotri Glades grounds here from tomorrow.

The home team faces an uphill task after managing just two points in as many matches in the preliminary league so far salvaging draws against Railways and Tamil Nadu.

Now they have to win against Andhra, preferably with a bonus point, to stay in hunt for a place in the super league.

Andhra are also in the same boat with just two points from the matches against Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Karnataka will have to bat well, especially in the first innings.

Newly named captain Robin Uthappa did well in the first match scoring a century but suffered due to illness in the second, despite he played the match.

"We will go all out to win this game. Our group has only seven teams and we will have to win atleast three matches outright to enter the next round," Karnataka coach Vijay Bharadwaj said.

The wicket in the City of Palaces is good for batting according to the ground staff. Both the teams practiced at the grounds today.

Following are the teams: Karnataka: Robin Uthappa (Capt), Rahul Dravid, K B Pawan, C Raghu, Bharath Chipli, Ganesh Satish, Thilak Naidu, Manish Pandey, Sunil Joshi, Vinya Kumar, N C Aiyappa, Deepak Chougole, Vinu Narayna and C M Gautam.

Coach: Vijay Bhardwaj.

Andhra: Gnaneswara Rao (Capt), D Kalyan Krishna, G Prasad Reddy, Sarath Babu, Bodapati Sumanth, Satyakumar Vema, Hemanth Watekar, Veera Babu, A G Pradeep, Israel Raju, Manoj Sai, D Shivakumar, Marripuri Suresh and Padidikalva Vijyakumar.

Coach: M V Narasimha Rao.

UNI BSP RS TS1842