KPL 2019: All you need to know about the Hubli Tigers squad
Season eight of the Karnataka Premier League is set to start on August 16th in Bengaluru. The tournament will take place for two weeks, with the matches being spread across Bengaluru and Mysore.
Hubli Tigers have been one of the most consistent sides in the history of the tournament. Based out of Hubli city in Karnataka, this franchise was not part of the tournament for the first two editions. In 2014, Sushil Jindal and Abhishek Jindal of Jindal Steels bought the franchise and subsequently, Hubli Tigers made their debut in the Karnataka Premier League that year.
Hubli Tigers reached the finals in both the 2015 and the 2016 editions but were not able to cross the line in both the finals. The squad has maintained a good win-percentage since its inception and last season too, the team won 4 games out of their stipulated 6 in the group stage, thereby finishing second on the table after the league stage.
However, with the squad that this franchise has forged for the upcoming season, Hubli Tigers may well be on course for their maiden KPL trophy this season. Having retained experienced campaigner Vinay Kumar and wily leg-spinner Praveen Dubey ahead of the auctions, the franchise went big for their highest-scorer in 2016 - Mohammed Taha and eventually snapped him up for ₹5.7 Lakhs.
Apart from Taha, the franchise also made a few other impressive additions to the squad in the form of KB Pawan, Vishwanath M, Shishir Bhavane, Shivil Kaushik and Mithrakant Yadav.
Although Taha was underwhelming last season with the Hubli Tigers, his experience in the tournament could come handy for the franchise. Taha will be joined by Shishir Bhavane and KB Pawan - experienced customers who scored 84 and 38 runs respectively last season. However, it is the contributions with the bat by their retained players that makes this squad very balanced.
Despite primarily being bowlers, both Vinay Kumar and Praveen Dubey scored 116 and 152 runs respectively in season seven, thereby ending up as the 4th and 3rd highest run-getters for their squad. Apart from these two bowlers, Hubli Tigers have added Aditya Somanna to their ranks. Aditya is a useful all-rounder who picked up 10 wickets last season apart from contributing 86 runs with the bat.
Also, there a few T20 specialists such as Vishwanathan M, Shivil Kaushik and David Mathias in the team who could turn a game on its head on any given day. Overall, this squad has the right mix of youth and experience which makes them one of the contenders to lift the trophy.
Hubli Tigers squad for KPL 2019:
Vinay Kumar (c), Praveen Dubey (vc), Shishir Bhawane, Aditya Somanna, Mohammed Taha, Shivil Kaushik, Mahesh Patel, Suraj Seshadri, Mithrakanth Yadav, M. Vishwanathan, K.L. Shrijith, Luvnith Sisodia, K.B. Pawan, David Mathias, Vidyadhar Patil, Abhilash Shetty, Parikshith Shetty, Dheeraj Shashidhar.
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