India has 28 states in the country and in most parts of India cricket is played in the country. Karnataka is one among the 28 states with a rich cricketing history. Karnataka cricket team has won the Ranji Trophy eight times and they have also come six times as runner up. The state had a major uplift in 2010 in terms of cricketing infrastructure when grounds were set up in Mysore, Dharwad and Hubli.
Karnataka have produced a lot of match winning cricketers for India over the years. The latest being KL Rahul who is the vice-captain of the side under Rohit Sharma when it comes to the ODI and T20 formats. The Southern state has done very well in domestic cricket across formats from a long period of time. Here is a look at the top three scorers for Karnataka in first class cricket.
Ravikumar Samarth has been a long warhorse for Karnataka over the years. The right-handed batter has racked up 4426 runs at an average of 40.98 and strike rate of 50.07. Samarth has also captained the team whenever the senior players were not part of the Karnataka side. He has gotten 12 hundreds and 20 fifties in first class cricket so far.
Manish Pandey has been an absolute run machine for Karnataka in first-class cricket. He amassed 6240 runs at an average of 51.14 and at a strike rate of 65.80. Pandey has made 21 hundreds and 25 fifties. Pandey’s moment in the sun came at Sydney in an ODI in Australia where he slammed his maiden ODI ton to take India to victory. Pandey has also captained Karnataka.
Robin Uthappa was known as the walking assassin in his playing days. The stylish right-handed batter amassed 6817 runs in first class cricket for Karnataka. He had an average of 42.34 and a strike rate of 65.34. Uthappa has struck 33 fifties and 18 hundreds in first class cricket. The batter had an air of class while playing for his stateside. Uthappa was part of the 2007 20-20 World Cup winning side for India.