For the first time in their history, Kerala performed exceptionally well in the league stages of 2017/18 edition of the Ranji Trophy. They played 6 matches and won 5 of them.
Their only loss came against Gujarat. With no big names in their squad, all the players performed as a unit. Under the captaincy of Sachin Baby, Kerala finished second with 31 points. Last time, Kerala best performance was in the 1993/94 season where they reached the pre-quarterfinal stage.
Here we look at the 5 reason why Kerala have done well to reach the knockout stages in 2017/18 Ranji trophy for the first time.
- Contribution of Jalaj Saxena with the bat and ball
Till 2015, Jalaj Saxena played for Madhya Pradesh and has been a consistent performer. He moved to Kerala stateside last year. He was brilliant with the both and ball in this year’s Ranji Trophy. With the bat, he played 6 matches (11 innings) scoring 482 runs with best score of 105*. Saxena made 1 century and 3 half centuries while opening. When the team required, he played vital innings and helped Kerala to score big runs.
He is the leading wicket taker so far till the league stage. Saxena played 6 matches ( 12 innings) taking 38 wickets with best figures of 8/85 in an innings. For Kerala, he took 5 wickets in an innings thrice and 10 wickets in an innings 2. He bowled with great control and dismissed the opposition batsmen with variety. Jalaj Saxena was named man of the match in 3 matches for his match winning performance.
- Sanju Samson scoring big runs at number 4
Sanju Samson showed his class with the bat for Kerala batting at number 4. In the league stage he featured in 6 matches (10 matches), the young talented batsmen made 577 runs with the best score of 175 against Saurashtra. He scored at an average of 57.70 playing with positive intent and backing strokeplay. He scored 2 centuries and 3 half-centuries. Sanju Samson also was awarded man of the match twice.
Sanju Samson also contributed behind the wickets with important catches and run outs. With quarter-finals coming up against Vidarbha from 7th December, the young batsman will play a crucial role scoring big runs in the quarterfinals.
- Dav Whatmore becoming the head coach of team
Dav Whatmore has the experience of coaching national teams of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. He also became the coach of Zimbabwe cricket but not maintain his position. Before the Ranji Trophy 2017/18 season started, Kerala state side announced experienced Whatmore as head coach.
Under his guidance, Dav Whatmore decided to have 3 months pre-camp in Chennai, they decided to analyze each other weakness and strengths. Kerala reached the quarterfinals for the first time after an innings and 8 runs win over Haryana in the final league match at Lahli.
- Players handling the pressure situations
Kerala players handled the pressure situations much better. Their experienced players Jalaj Saxena, Sanju Samson, Rohan Prem, Arun Karthik came with match-winning performances. In every match, every player contributed to the team’s success. In the league, they defeated Jharkhand by 9 wickets, Rajasthan by 131 runs, lost to Gujarat, defeated Jammu and Kashmir by 158 runs, beat Saurashtra by 309 runs. In the final league match against Haryana, Kerala won by an innings and 8 runs.
S Joseph is the second leading wicket-taker for Kerala till league stage picking 19 wickets in 4 matches (8 innings). It was a team effort from all the bowlers.
- Sachin Baby leading from front
Sachin Baby played a key role with the bat and captaincy. Despite getting dismissed cheaply against Jharkhand, Jammu, and Kashmir, Baby captained well with good bowling changes by putting pressure on the opposition batsmen. There were few games when the captain made sure that the match did not slip away from Kerala.
Sachin Baby top score was 78 in this season. With the quarterfinals stage coming up, Sachin Baby has to come good with the bat and lead from the front.