Ranji Trophy: Kerala look to go one better

At the end of day three of Kerala's Ranji Trophy group match against Madhya Pradesh in Thiruvananthapuram, the head coach Dav Whatmore had a peculiar smile on his face. He looked pleased but bewildered too. Kerala had turned around the match from a no-hope-situation. From 8/4 in their second innings and still trailing by 257, they closed the day at 390 for eight with a lead of 125 runs as captain Sachin Baby and Vishnu Vinod led a rearguard action."I don't know how much the actual potential of this team is," gushed Whatmore.
That's been only one half of the Kerala story this season. For every awe-inducing display, like the one against Himachal Pradesh chasing 297 on a fourth-day pitch to seal their quarterfinals berth, there have been many meltdowns with the bat and letdowns with the ball. Out of eight group matches, they won four, more than any other team among the 18 in the combined Elite A-B groups but crucially lost three also, including the above-mentioned match against Madhya Pradesh. As they gear up for the quarterfinal, their scond in a row after the defeat against Vidarbha last season, against Gujarat at the scenic Krishnagiri Stadium in Wayanad beginning Tuesday, Kerala would know they need to be more consistent against their storied rivals who were champions just two seasons ago.
For the record, Gujarat won only three of their eight matches but lost none, partly due to the kind of wickets they have played on. Bolstered by the return of talismanic captain Parthiv Patel, the Gujarat batting is much more formidable than that of Kerala. Priyank Panchal, always in form, has racked up 887 runs including four centuries already. The opener is the only one in the top-four scorers this season not from the plate group. In fact, Gujarat have five batters who have crossed 400 runs this season. Kerala, on the other hand, have been struggling to find a stable top-order.
The emergence of Rahul P, who scored a century last match, might give them some comfort. It would be interesting to see if Kerala would persist with makeshift opener Vinoop Manoharanafter his heroics against Himachal.
Kerala, though, have the uppe rhand when it comes to bowling, on paper. Three of their bowlers, Sandeep Warrier (31), Jalaj Saxena (28), Basil Thampi (25) have all got more wickets than Gujarat's leading bowler Siddharth Desai (23).
The hosts, however, are fretting on the fitness of their biggest match winner Saxena. The all-rounder who missed the last match due to an injury in an Achilles tendon seems to have not fully recovered. "Jalaj is available for selection," Whatmore told TOI on the eve of the match but refused to divulge too much information on his recovery.
If Saxena misses out, Gujarat will get a head start in the spin department. The left-arm duo of Desai and Axar Patel could cause some troubles if the wicket starts turning.
Playing a five-day match in the knockouts may require teams to adopt a different tempo from the four-day games of the group stage. "In four-day matches, if you fall behind in first innings, it is difficult come back. But in five-day games, teams can't sit on the lead there is always that opportunity to make a comeback in the second innings, said Gujarat head coach Vijay Patel who finally has more or less a full-strength squad to choose from.
In 2016 when Krishnagiri hosted a Ranji game, 21 wickets fell on a manic second day on a hardly ideal pitch. The bounce was uneven as pacers bowled Odisha to an innings-win against Maharashtra. This time around, the local district cricket administrators have promised a 'green top' and if that's the case, the match is not likely to last five days.