KL Rahul by far has been India's best batter in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. While he is yet to score a big century, Rahul has looked the most assured Indian batter out there. His resilience and great defensive technique forced Rohit Sharma to drop down in the batting order and bat at 6, with Rahul opening the batting with Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Given how assured KL Rahul has looked at the crease, he will be vital for India if they are to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the third time in a row. Meanwhile, in a surprising move, KL Rahul was named in the 22-man probable Karnataka squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The tournament will run from December 21 to January 18 while the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will end December 7. Following the series, there will be a cooling period for the players as well.

Will KL Rahul Miss The Border-Gavaskar Trophy?

It's very unlikely that Rahul will leave the Border-Gavaskar Series for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, almost impossible. Rahul most likely was kept in the squad as there is a slight possibility he might feature for his state if the team reaches the knockout stage from January 9 to 18. The odds are extremely low as there is a Champions Trophy lined up and India would be keen to give their ace players enough break before the marquee tournament.

Manish Pandey Left Out

Meanwhile, along with KL Rahul, Prasidh Krishna and Devdutt Padikkal were also named in the squad, however, Manish Pandey was left out. KSCA men’s selection committee chairman J. Abhiram said that Pandey was left out of the squad as the team wants to move forward with the youngsters.

"It is time to give young players the chance to step up and perform, Abhiram said. “Manish has had a fantastic career; no doubt about it. But at some stage, you will have to make way for youngsters. We have a few exciting young batters - Prakhar Chaturvedi, Aneeshwar Gautam, K.V. Aneesh. The more opportunities they get, the better,” Abhiram told Sportstar.

Karnataka Probable Squad For Vijay Hazare Trophy: K.L. Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Prasidh Krishna, Devdutt Padikkal, L.R. Chethan, Macneil Noronha, Shreyas Gopal, K.L. Shrijith, Abhinav Manohar, Manoj Bhandage, Hardik Raj, V. Koushik, Vidyadhar Patil, Shubhang Hegde, Abhilash Shetty, Mohsin Khan, R. Smaran, Luvnith Sisodia, V. Vyshak, Manvanth Kumar, Yashovardhan Parantap, Pravin Dubey, M. Venkatesh, Nikin Jose, K.V. Aneesh, K. Shashikumar, Paras Gurbax Arya, Shikhar Shetty, Kishan Bedare, Harshil Dharmani, Vidwath Kaverappa, Kruthik Krishna.

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