Mahesh Rawat and Murali Kartik have decided on different paths to balance the workload of playing Ranji matches and at the same time make themselves available for their respective teams for the Champions Twenty20 League. Rajasthan Royals’ Rawat would be flying in and out of Mumbai before the Railways Elite Division match against Uttar Pradesh that begins here on November 29. Kartik, on the contrary, will miss the match.

“Kartik will not be available for our next match. We have Madan Yadav in the squad as his cover,” Railways skipper Sanjay Bangar confirmed.

Long season
Kartik has had a long season with Middlesex and was not willing to run the risk of a longish injury break due to ever-increasing workload.

“It’s been a long season for me so I needed this break, otherwise I would have broken down playing either for Middlesex or Railways,” Kartik said.

Kartik’s team Middlesex plays Victoria on December 3, and it would have been impossible for the off-spinner to finish the match against Uttar Pradesh on December 2nd and reach Mumbai in time for the match.

On the contrary, Rawat is available for the UP tie despite having to fly in and out of Mumbai, first to attend the Rajasthan Royals two-day camp.

He gets some breathing space for his first match of the T20 Champions League, as the Royals play a night encounter on December 3.

“I am flying to Mumbai tomorrow to attend a two-day camp. Then I’ll play the next match and reach Bangalore in time for our first Champions League match,” Rawat said.