After a confidence-boosting win against Meghalaya in their Ranji Trophy opener last week, a tougher test awaits Sachin Baby's side as they take on Gujarat in the Elite Group 'A' encounter in Rajkot on Thursday.
For Gujarat, this is a must-win game after they were stung by the loss to Madhya Pradesh in their opening fixture. After dominating the proceedings for the first three days, which saw Gujarat taking a 57-run first innings lead, Gujarat batsmen's lack of application on the final day cost them dear as they went down by 106 runs against MP.
The team will be without Priyank Panchal, who is in the India squad for the Sri Lanka Test series, but will be keen to make amends against Kerala. The Gujarat squad is a healthy mix of youth and experience and has in its ranks players like Arzan Nagwaswalla, Chinta Gaja and Manprit Juneja.
More than the victory against Meghalaya, it is the collective effort from the batters that would have pleased Kerala head coach Tinu Yohannan. While three Kerala batsmen scored tons in the first game, the four pacers led by young Edhen Apple Tom made most of a greenish surface in their opening fixture.
But for the Gujarat game, Kerala would be moving to the main stadium of the Saurashtra Cricket Association and indications are that the pitch won't be as green as the one they played on in the first game and it is bound to assist the spinners as the game wears on. So indications are that Kerala may drop one of the pacers to bolster their batting line-up and southpaw Salman Nizar is likely to make the cut.
But the Kerala batsmen will be facing a stern test from a more potent bowling attack.
The Kerala bowling attack came out with flying colours in the opening fixture. Now the onus is on them to show that they are more than capable of doing the same against stronger rivals.
