It is evident that there has been dearth of wicket-keepers in Karnataka for a while now. CM Gautham's form terribly dipped in the last couple of years and that opened the door for the likes of Sharath BR and Sharath Srinivas.
Gautham was left out mid-way in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018/19 after a string of failures and he was not included for the subsequent Ranji Trophy too which meant both the Sharath's were drafted into the team. Sharath Srinivas is a right-hand wicket-keeper batsman who has played for the Karnataka at different age groups and has made decent contributions with the bat. His keeping is also highly rated which gives him that extra edge. Sharath BR, the first-choice wicket-keeper for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy failed to get going after his century on debut and as a result, his namesake Sharath Srinivas replaced him for the game against Gujarat in Surat. Sharath Srinivas proved his mettle with a patient 47 in his maiden innings and also was impressive behind the stumps grabbing 5 catches. In the Semi Final against Saurashtra, Sharath bailed Karnataka out of trouble with a gritty 83. So, it is going be a tussle between both the Sharath's and it remains to be seen who'll be preferred for the new season.
