KOCHI: Kerala will bank on their senior pros to deliver when they begin their Ranji Trophy campaign against Uttar Pradesh at the SD College ground, Alappuzha on Friday. Kerala are placed in a tough group with Mumbai, Bengal, Andhra, Bihar, Assam, Chhattisgarh lining up alongside them in Group B apart from their rivals for the opener.
Batting has been Kerala’s bane in the past couple of seasons and the hosts would be banking on skipper Sanju Samson and veterans Sachin Baby and Rohan Prem to deliver the goods.
If Rohan Kunnummal and Vishnu Vinod can justify their potential with runs, Kerala can hope to put big runs on the board. Kerala are playing four matches at home. After Alappuzha makes its Ranji debut on Friday, the other three matches will be played in spin-friendly surfaces at St Xavier’s College ground in Thumba.
That would mean that the performance of two professional guest players, Jalaj Saxena and Shreyas Gopal, will prove critical for Kerala.
Jalaj has been Kerala’s chief wicket-taker ever since he made his switch to the state from Madhya Pradesh. But unlike previous years, where he received very little support from his fellow tweakers, this year he has the experienced Shreyas for company.
Though Uttar Pradesh will be without Nitish Rana and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, they are a robust unit led by Arya Juyal. The team has in its ranks India’s new shorter format sensation Rinku Singh.
It will be interesting to see the kind of approach Rinku brings to the longer format. The big-hitting Sameer Rizvi, who was lapped up by Chennai Super Kings at the IPL auctions recently, also features in the visiting squad.
But the biggest threat for Kerala batters would come in the form of Kuldeep Yadav. The left-arm chinaman bowler, who last played a Test almost a year ago, has a golden opportunity to stake his claim in the Indian team before their home Test series against England with a solid performance in Alappuzha.
