The disappointing bit, though, is that he was the State's last skipper to win them a Ranji title. 11 years on, Vinay's again the cynosure. This time as the head coach.

Karnataka's Elite Group B opener against Andhra from October 11 in Mulapadu, will not only mark the beginning of a fresh season but will also be the dawn of a new era, one with expectations and excitement about the future.

The eight-time winners will be striving for consistency in their bid to recreate the old magic, that they found in phases last season before running out of steam in the final in Hubballi.

When Vinay accepted the job, he spoke to DH of the culture he wanted to build, one in which his boys could thrive, and stressed on the importance of getting things done.

For a team like Karnataka, with players on national commitments consistently, it will not be an easy task and will test the depth of talent.

While they will be without their regular skipper Devdutt Padikkal, there's buzz circling around new India A entrant and stand-in skipper Smaran R and India international K L Rahul. Prasidh Krishna, however, was ruled out due to injury.

Karnataka will be desperate to make the most of their availability, as they are likely to miss the next two games against Saurashtra (October 18) and Tripura (October 26) with India A duties in New Zealand starting October 24.

Meanwhile, Karun Nair and Mayank Agarwal will be itching to prove a few South Zone coaches and selectors wrong while Shreyas Gopal, now with 100 first-class games under his belt, will hope to follow up a brilliant last season.

Karnataka, in the recent past, have had struggles with the bowling group, often due to injuries and personal reasons. And that's still troubling them as they will be without first-choice quicks Vyshak Vijaykumar and Vidwath Kaverappa. Against Andhra, they will be dependent on Kumar L R, Manvanth Kumar L and Abhilash Shetty.

Off-spinner Mohsin Khan was sent to play for the under-23 squad, while 33-year-old Ritesh Bhatkal, who bagged a whopping 70 wickets for Palar Sports Club (Kolar) in the M A T Acharya Shield and did well in the Dr (Capt) K Thimmappiah memorial tournament, was picked.

A new era doesn't always mean it will turn things around immediately, but they certainly have reasons to smile, and Vinay's think tank has their task cut out.

Teams: Karnataka: Mayank Agarawal, Rahul K L, Aneeshwar Gautam, Karun Nair, Smaran R (c), Aneesh KV, Shreyas Gopal, Kruthik Krishna, Shikhar Shetty, M Venkatesh Abhilash Shetty, Manvanth Kumar L, Kumar LR, Ritesh Bhatkal, Shrijith KL

Andhra: Ricky Bhui (c), Abhishek Reddy, Hemanth Reddy, SK Rasheed, SV Rahul, Karan Shinde, Revanth Reddy, T Vijay, KV Sasikanth, Saurabh Kumar, PVSN Raju, Sai Teja, Lalit Mohan, CH Stephen, UMS Girinath