State team set for Santosh test | Bengaluru News
Bengaluru: Looking set after a month-long camp, hosts Karnataka will look to go the distance when they start their Santosh Trophy campaign at the Football Stadium here from Dec 20. First up in Group H will be Lakshadweep in the second match of the day on Saturday. Though the former champions are unlikely to face any challenge, the number of goals scored against the island team could become crucial in the final standings. The real test for the young squad will start from Dec 22 when they take on Services before finishing their group engagements against Goa on Christmas eve. Head coach Ravi Babu Raju, who guided the state to its last Nationals triumph, when they ended a 54-year-old drought in Riyadh in 2023, is back at the helm. Raju sounded confident about the hosts’ prospects to advance to the knockout stage.“We are ready after almost a one-month long camp,” Raju told TOI here. “Not only Goa, but Services, who were champions two years back, will also give a tough fight,” he added.The squad, led by FC Bengaluru United’s Nikhil Raj Murugesh, features India striker Macarton Louis Nickson. Another key player would be Shreyas Ketkar who is reportedly on the radar of Bengaluru FC. “We have not progressed out of the first round after winning in Saudi Arabia and that would be an added pressure. From the 2023 title winning side, only Karthik Govind Swamy remains in the squad,” the coach said.“We have good strikers. The onus will be on Nickson but he will get enough support “Karnataka squad: Nikhil Raj Murugesh (captain), Sujay S, Sahil, Subrahmanian, Kiran Saravanan, Rajil Saji, Ajith Arasu, Arjun Gowda, Aby S, Aravind Babu G, Arun Kumar D, Karthik Govind Swamy, Vishal R, Manglenthang Singsit, Dhanush R, Shreyas Ketkar, Godwin Johnson, C Rohen Singh, Crispin C Cleetus, Macarton Louis Nickson. Officials: Ravi Babu Raju (Head coach), Chinta Chandrashekar Rao (Asst coach), Bappaditya Bhattacharjee (Manager), S Rajan (Goalkeeping coach), Rohit Ravi Arakeri (Physio).Karnataka’s fixtures: vs Lakshadweep (Dec 20, 3 pm); vs Services (Dec 22, 3 pm); vs Goa (Dec 24, 3 pm).
