Sachin Baby-led Kerala would be looking to warm up for bigger tasks ahead when they take on Meghalaya in their Ranji Trophy opener at Rajkot on Thursday. Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are Kerala’s other rivals in Elite Group A and a resounding win against minnows Meghalaya would hold them in good stead.
There is a lot of curiosity around S Sreesanth as he returns to the red-ball format after a long break. The 39-year-old did reasonably well on his comeback to the game from the ban in shorter formats last year but his last competitive game was the quarterfinal of the Vijay Hazare Trophy almost a year ago. However, indications are that the former India speedster would be given a go in the Ranji opener. The team management feels that the game against Meghalaya would give them a chance to see how the speedster measures up.
Edhen Apple Tom, who was just three-months old when Sreesanth made his international debut, is likely to pair-up with Sreesanth. The 16-year-old was summoned to the Kerala camp in Alappuzha after his impressive performance in the Cooch Behar Trophy. The Ranni native has impressed everyone with his deceptive pace and was fast-tracked into the Ranji squad. And it seems that the team management and the KCA are keen to unleash the pacer against Meghalaya. Apart from the two, Kerala have a decent mix of fast bowlers in their 20-member squad which includes Basil Thampi, Nidheesh MD and Manu Krishnan. The greenish tinge to the surface in Rajkot may prompt the thinktank to field a three-pronged pace attack and the experienced Basil is likely to get the nod.
With Sanju Samson joining the bio-bubble only on Thursday, after undergoing rehabilitation at the NCA in Bengaluru, skipper Sachin Baby will have to shoulder the batting burden along with his deputy Vishnu Vinod, Rahul P and the experienced Jalaj Saxena in the opening fixture. Youngsters like Rohan Kunnummal, Vathsal Govind will also be eager to make a mark with the bat if they are given an opportunity.
"Our preparations have been good. The only concern is that the boys have not played in the longer format for a while. We expect the pitch to assist the seamers early on and we will decide our final combination looking at the conditions on Thursday morning," said head coach Tinu Yohannan.
While Kerala bowlers have always come up with goods in the recent past, it is the batting that has floundered time and again in the longer format. If the batsmen are able to do a course correction, then Tinu’s boys can entertain thoughts of advancing to the next stage of Ranji Trophy this year.
