The Karnataka skipper had to don the gloves briefly following injury to the team's designated glover Sharath Srinivas.
The sight of Manish Pandey wicketkeeping on the live feed of the Karnataka-Uttar Pradesh Ranji Trophy quarterfinal caught fans by surprise.
Pandey was seen donning the gloves for a while in the final innings of his team’s must-win knock-out encounter in Alur.
The India batter and Karnataka skipper placed himself behind the stumps after the team’s designated glover Sharath Srinivas injured his finger. Srinivas later returned to resume his keeping duties after going through some quick rehab.
But why exactly was Manish Pandey, Karnataka’s best fielder, taking the glover’s role when the team had the option of substituting Srinivas with backup keeper BR Sharath is the question that everyone is asking?
Turns out that was because of a complicated rule within the BCCI playing conditions for the Ranji Trophy that the Karnataka think-tank perhaps didn’t pay heed to.
How a BCCI rule forced Manish Pandey to keep wickets
As per the BCCI rules and playing conditions for domestic cricket, including the Ranji Trophy – India’s premier first-class competition – all teams are supposed to submit a squad of 15 players before every game regardless of how enlarged their whole playing contingent is.
Karnataka’s squad handed out to the referee before the quarterfinal clash with UP did not feature their backup keeper BR Sharath, which is why they couldn’t use his services even as Srinivas briefly left the field to go through with rehabilitation on his injured finger.
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Call it a curious rule applied by the BCCI, especially in pandemic times, but the Karnataka team management didn’t implement it in their line of thinking before appointing a final 15 for the Ranji knock-out.
And that meant Manish Pandey had to switch positions in the field and undergo wicketkeeping duties for a while in UP’s second innings – something he would never have anticipated, being one of the finest athletes in front of the stumps for India and Karnataka.
Pandey would’ve had a sigh of relief when Srinivas returned soon to take the gloves again.
