Ranji Trophy: Can Whatmore's Kerala topple mighty Gujarat for a historic semis berth?

Wayanad: Kerala are aiming at a historic semifinal berth when they take on Parthiv Patel-led Gujarat in a five-day Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match at the Krishnagiri Stadium here on Tuesday.

For this to happen in Kerala's second quarterfinal appearance in as many years, the team has to overcome giant odds.

Last year, Kerala had qualified for the quarters after a gap of four decades.

This time, they emerged as surprise qualifiers from a strong Group B, which featured exceptional sides including Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Bengal and Punjab.

Kerala made a last ditch entry on the final day, beating Himachal Pradesh by five wickets.

Whatmore Effect

It has been a great season for Kerala.

A lion's share of Kerala's success must be credited to Dav Whatmore, the Australian coach who took charge of the side a year ago when the team was struggling.

Whatmore brought the best out of players like all-rounder Jalaj Saxena, skipper Sachin Baby, wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson and pacer Sandeep Warrier.

Earlier this year, a group of players had revolted against captain Sachin Baby and Kerala Cricket Association had initiated action against them.

But the coach managed to hold them as a unit and even mentored them to become a better outfit.

Whatmore, who was the coach when Sri Lanka won the 1996 World Cup in India, has also coached the national sides of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

Saxena was the highest-scoring batsman for Kerala when the group stages ended with 479 runs in seven games, including two tons and two fifties.

Warrier was the pick of the bowlers, claiming 31 wickets in eight matches.

Sanju, who has been mostly off-colour this season with 326 runs in eight games, fired when the team needed it most in the chase against Himachal.

Gujarat's might

Meanwhile, Gujarat who are playing knockouts for the third time in a row, have been a much-improved side in first-class cricket over the last few years under the captaincy of the experienced Parthiv Patel. The team won the prestigious trophy in the 2016-17 season by beating Mumbai in the final.

However, this year, they haven’t been able to get the services of their regular captain, Parthiv, as he was busy touring Australia with Team India. But still, Gujarat did a wonderful job by reaching the last-eight under stand-in skipper Priyank Panchal.

Now, it will be a big boost for the team as Parthiv is back to lead the side along with spinners Axar Patel and Piyush Chawla, who are also available for the last-eight clash.

Kerala have frequently shuffled players but it would hope to cash in on the fine form of their top order batsmen and pace bowlers.

The middle-order, though, is inconsistent.

But with experience on Gujarat's side, it would be a mammoth task to beat the Parthiv-led team despite hoping for home advantage.

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