Of the five Karnataka players doing national duty in the ongoing Sharjah Tri-series, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad and Rahul Dravid are in the World Cup squad bound for England on April 23. Sunil Joshi, the fifth player, has been omitted from World Cup team.

The five Karnataka players, after the Sharjah final on April 16, are to play the Ramnath Parkar benefit match in Mumbai on April 18 before reaching Bangalore.

The five-day Ranji Trophy final starts April 19 and is scheduled to finish on April 23. The Indian team is to depart for England from Mumbai on the evening of April 23. Thus the Karnataka players will have to fly out of Bangalore at least by the afternoon of April 23.

This is the dilemma confronting KSCA. Should they take a chance and play all four and hope the matchends by the fifth afternoon, or take a chance and shore up the present XI with just Sunil Joshi ?