KL Rahul has reportedly decided not to play for Karnataka in the knockout stages of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025. While the BCCI made it mandatory for players to play domestic cricket when not representing the national team, the right-handed batsman opted out of the premier competition of India for over 50 years.

According to a Sportstar report, the Karnataka star sought a break citing the need to rest after a grueling Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. The five-match Test series ended last week in Sydney. KL Rahul played in all five Tests against Australia and has now asked for a better to recover and recharge.

As a result, Karnataka will head into the knockout phase without one of the biggest names in their team. Out-of-favour Indian batsman Mayank Agarwal will lead the team in the competition. While Karnataka will be without KL Rahul, there are some big names in the team.

Players like Devdutt Padikkal and Prasidh Krishna will be part of the team in the competition. Both Krishna and Padikkal were also in India’s team for the Test series against Australia. However, they played only one test each. While Padikkal played in the first Test, Krishna got a chance in the last Test of the five-match series.

Meanwhile, Karnataka will also be without their star pacer V. Vyshak. The fast bowler has been ruled out of the competition due to injury. Karnataka will face Baroda in the quarterfinals. The match is scheduled to be played on Saturday (January 11) in Vadodara.

KL Rahul receives praise:

While Team India suffered a 3-1 defeat in Australia, KL Rahul managed to impress many with his batting performance in the series. In the first Test, when the Indian team was without its captain Rohit Sharma, Rahul was promoted to open the innings and he did not disappoint.

In Test conditions, he scored 26 and 77 as India beat Australia by 295 runs in the series opener. In the day-night Test, Rahul started but couldn’t capitalize and departed for 37 before scoring just 7 in the second innings.

He scored 84 runs in the first innings of the third Test in Brisbane before scoring an unbeaten 4 in the second innings. During the last two Tests, Rahul was demoted to number 3 and failed to score big in either game.

He will be seen in action next when Karnataka resumes its Ranji Trophy campaign. While India is scheduled to play a T20I series against England later this month, Rahul is unlikely to be named in the squad. He has not played a T20I since 2022 and is highly unlikely to represent India in the shortest format of the game anytime soon.

Karnataka team for Vijay Hazare Trophy knockouts:

Mayank Agarwal (Captain), Devdutt Padikkal, Nikin Jose, KV Aneesh, R. Smaran, KL Shrijith, Abhinav Manohar, Shreyas Gopal (vice-captain), Hardik Raj, Prasidh Krishna, V. Koushik, Vidyadhar Patil, Abhilash Shetty, Pravin Dubey, Luvnith Sisodia, Yashovardhan Parantap.