Kerala braces itself for a tough Ranji Trophy season as it begins its campaign against Punjab at the KCA-St. Xavier’s College ground on Friday.
Pitted against six former champions—Punjab, Karnataka, Bengal, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh—in Elite Group C, the odds will be stacked against Kerala as it attempts to secure a place in the knockouts for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
The side will be without its star batter, Sanju Samson, who is part of India’s squad for ongoing T20I series against Bangladesh.
Hence, Kerala would want to maximise its home advantage. The pitch has traditionally helped the spinners. Jalaj Saxena has scalped 116 wickets at the ground and will be Kerala’s trump card. Jalaj will have good support in Aditya Sarwate, the recent addition to the team from Vidarbha. Another newcomer, Baba Aparajith, can chip too in with his part-time spin.
Sachin Baby, who was appointed as captain for the first match in the absence of Samson, was bullish about his team’s chances. The team has been training earnestly over the past three weeks under new coach Amay Khurasiya. Majority of the players played in the inaugural KCL T20 tournament but captain Baby expects them to adapt quickly to the longer format.
Punjab will be making a fresh start under a new coach and captain this season. The architects of Punjab’s maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title, captain Mandeep Singh and coach Aavishkar Salvi, have since moved to different teams. Prabhsimran Singh is the new captain and former India star Wasim Jaffer has taken over as the coach.
Punjab will rely on its batting line-up which boasts Prabhsimran, Anmolpreet Singh, Nehal Wadera and Namin Dhir. Veteran medium pacer Siddarth Kaul and leg-spinner Mayank Markande are important cogs in Punjab’s bowling.
With Kerala playing to its strength, it could well turn out to be a battle between hosts’ spinners and Punjab batters.
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