In another jersey

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When West Bengal trounced Punjab 2-1 in the Santosh Trophy final two years ago, it was a Keralite’s brace that guided the Bengal team to victory.

Denson Devdas, a native of Kannur, was in the limelight scoring a brace in the game and it was a shock for the Kerala team that was ousted in the quarterfinals of the championship.

At present, when the Kerala team is getting ready for the Santosh Trophy, another set of Keralites from its neighbouring state of Karnataka are confident about playing a crucial performance just as Denson played two years ago.

Four Malayali players are in the Karnataka squad that is now in Orissa, for the Santosh Trophy campaign. P.R. Rajesh and Gireesh, natives of Ernakulam, S. Rajesh from Thiruvananthapuram and Vineeth from Kannur are players who will be appearing in the Karnataka jersey this year.

P.R. Rajesh is now playing for BEML Bangalore, and was a former midfielder for Golden Threads Ernakulam.

He has been playing in Karnataka for the past two years. MEG Bangalore players Gireesh, a wing back and Vineeth, a midfielder, who has been playing for the team for the past 14 years have also been short-listed in the team.

In the group, S. Rajesh is a newcomer as he joined the BEML Bangalore team last year. Only Vineeth has played for the Kerala state team as he was a member of the sub junior and junior teams. This is the first time all the players are playing in a state senior team.

“We are all confident about the campaign and are really happy that we are able to represent Karnataka state. Four of us got the call up after our performance in the state league. There was a month-long camp and from there we were selected to the team,” says P. R. Rajesh.

Karnataka, who are in pre-quarter final cluster 6, will vie with Nagaland, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in the group. P.R. Rajesh says that he is confident that the team will put up a good fight in the tournament.