Mayank Agarwal has received a fitness clearance to return to cricket after missing the previous round (fifth) of the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy following a health emergency.
Agarwal, the Karnataka captain, had ingested a liquid that he believed was water while onboard a flight from Agartala following the completion of his side's game against Tripura. He subsequently had a bout of vomiting following which he was deplaned and admitted to a private hospital in Agartala.
Agarwal returned to Bengaluru after being discharged the following day and underwent a check-up upon arrival. He was then cleared of any major issues, and was advised two days of rest before he could return to action.
On Monday, Agarwal returned as captain for the sixth-round southern derby against Tamil Nadu at Chepauk beginning later this week. Agarwal confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that he was "fit and fine and there were no major issues."
Agarwal's return along with Devdutt Padikkal, who missed the previous two rounds due to his commitments with India A, boosts an inexperienced line-up that was given an almighty scare by the Railways.
Karnataka were bundled out for 174 in the first innings and huffed past their target of 226 with one wicket in hand, courtesy an unbeaten 67 from Manish Pandey. This places them second in Group B with three wins in five matches with only quotient and bonus-point criteria separating them and toppers Tamil Nadu.
In Agarwal's absence, Karnataka were led by young batter Nikin Jose, who registered a pair. Jose started the season on a bright note by hitting 107 in the second outing against Goa but has since managed just eight runs in four innings. Meanwhile, Agarwal has so far hit 310 runs in seven innings at an average of 44.28, with one hundred and two half-centuries.
Karnataka squad: Mayank Agarwal (capt), Devdutt Padikkal, R Samarth, Nikin Jose, Manish Pandey, Sharath Srinivas (wk), Aneesh KV, Vyshak Vijayakumar, V Koushik, K Shashikumar, Sujay Sateri (wk), M Venkatesh, Vidwath Kaverappa, Kishan Bedare, Rohit Kumar, Hardik Raj