It's all down to the preparation: Dav Whatmore

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Things are falling in place for Kerala in the Ranji Trophy finally. They have made it three wins out of four with a 158-run victory over Jammu & Kashmir at the St Xavier's College ground, Thumba on Saturday. Such a run of results is unheard of in Kerala's history. The team seems to be a much more cohesive unit and different players are putting their hand up when it matters. Though qualification to the knockouts is still tough, it is not an outlandish dream anymore. Kerala picked up the remaining three wickets within 40 minutes to end J&K innings at 79 once play resumed on the fourth and final day. On a difficult pitch, it was the experienced duo of Sanju Samson and Rohan Prem who showed the way with the bat. Then the young left-arm spinners Sijjomon Joseph and Akshay KC finished off the job with the seamers MD Nidheesh and Basil Thampi chipping in.While Jalaj Saxena's allround brilliance was the highlight of Kerala's previous two wins, there have been important contributions from captain Sachin Baby, Arun Karthik, Mohammed Azharuddeen and others at crucial moments. Such team efforts would have provided coach Dav Whatmore a lot to cheer about. The renowned Australian international coach, who took over at the start of the season, has clearly given Kerala the much-needed belief that they can compete and win against any team in the domestic circuit. However, Whatmore, always self-effacing, puts it down to the preparation and the players' efforts. "It's the preparation. I have written it down. The 12-15 days preparation we have had here before our first match was the best I've had with any team in the recent past. We had each pair batting for two hours. Bowlers had long spells. We had lunch and tea breaks just like we would have in a match. Six-seven hours of cricket a day for practice. It's unheard of. We had a lot of quality nets bowlers, that too helped," said Whatmore. Even last season, Kerala got themselves into winnable positions but could not close out matches. They have already corrected on that front eking out a win under tough circumstances by fighting till the last to emerge victorious against Rajasthan in a match which went into the final 10 overs on the fourth day. Whatmore puts it down to the belief the players have in themselves and their teammates. "I don't want to make assumptions about how the team was in the past. I just like to make sure that people are prepared and have the knowledge that others have confidence in them. These players have that confidence and it reflects on the field," said Whatmore. Captaincy of Sachin Baby has also played a key role, feels Whatmore. "I can see a definite improvement in Sachin. He's growing into that role of captaincy. A lot of energy, and high skill level. He's a role-model for the younger players," said Whatmore. The contribution of assistant coach Tinu Yohannan also came in for praise from Whatmore. "Tinu is a cool and calm character. He has had the experience working with the boys and he communicates well with them. So that has helped me ease into the job. And Mazar [Moidu] has been brilliant as the fielding coach."Kerala are currently second in Group B with 18 points from four matches. Gujarat are leading with 19 points from three matches and Saurashtra are third with 14 points but have played only two matches. Kerala will have the chance to widen the gap with Saurashtra when they host them in the next match on October 17 and they might fancy their chances with Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja missing out due to India duties. Brief scores: Kerala 219 & 191 bt J&K 173 & 79 (Akshay KC 5/21; MD Nidheesh 2/7, Sijomon Joseph 2/21) by 158 runs.