Smaran Ravichandran proves his mettle in star-studded Karnataka

LUCKNOW: For a youngster, it is very difficult to make a mark while playing alongside big names like KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Karun Nair and Mayank Agarwal. But Smaran Ravichandran, a young southpaw, has grabbed the opportunity with both hands and accumulated the most runs for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy season thus far by cracking a ton against Uttarakhand in the Ranji Trophy semifinal here at Ekana stadium, helping the team post a mammoth 736 runs."I am very happy that all of us have contributed, be it Karun Nair, who has gotten close to 700 runs, skipper Devdutt Padikkal, who has come close to 500 runs now, and KL Rahul, who is also batting brilliantly. In order to win a championship, I think it's very important that all the batsmen in our team fire on all cylinders. I'm glad that in each and every game, one or the other guy has been batting well. So yeah, I'm really happy with my batting as well," Smaran said on Tuesday.Rating his semifinal ton against Uttarakhand, he said, "It's right up there. It's my first Ranji Trophy semifinal game, and it's right up there."On setting up such a mammoth total in the first innings, he said, "I don't think there was a specific target that we wanted to achieve. It was more about batting long so that the wicket deteriorates and makes it harder for them to bat later. There was no particular target. We now need another five wickets, and I'm sure that tomorrow morning, in the first session, we can get those five wickets."When asked about the lessons he learned in the dressing room among the bigwigs of the game, he said, "I think there's a lot of learning. You hardly find a state side with the top four guys playing for the country in Test matches. Obviously, there’s a lot to learn in the dressing room. A lot of talks happen outside the field as well as when I'm batting out there in the middle. Yes, there are a lot of inputs from all four or five of them."With Karnataka in a commanding position, when asked what it would mean to him and Karnataka cricket if they go on to win the Ranji Trophy, Smaran said, "I think it's everything right now because we've not won the trophy for 10 years. It's been a long wait," adding that the team would love to play the final at their home ground.On his future goals, he said, "Right now, the first thing is to win the Ranji Trophy. The IPL is coming up, and I'm looking forward to that as well, contributing to the team's success there. Based on that, we'll see where it takes me."