After the highs of the past couple of seasons, Kerala find themselves precariously placed in their Ranji Trophy campaign. Sachin Baby's men are languishing at the 17th spot in the 18-team Elite Group A and B with just three points from four matches. With only the top five qualifying for the quarterfinals, chances of Kerala making it to the knockout phase look remote. Kerala have just four games left and out of it three are against Punjab, Andhra and defending champions Vidarbha – who are now at the top half of the table.
Though Kerala began well against Delhi by enforcing the follow-on, they could not translate it into a win. Thereafter it has all gone wrong for Kerala. They lost to Bengal and Gujarat inside three days and also suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Hyderabad, who finally opened their account after three successive losses.
The interesting thing to note here is that Kerala had their chances in all three games which they lost. But they could not seize the key moments. One session of reckless batting cost them game against Bengal, while a counter-attacking unbeaten fifty by No. 10 Chintan Gaja went a long way in Gujarat setting them a stiff target of 268 on a tough wicket at Surat, and finally, they let Hyderabad off the hook after reducing them to 44/5 in reply to their first-innings total of 164.
Major concern
Batting has been the big worry for Sachin and head coach Dav Whatmore. Apart from the opening tie against Delhi in which Robin Uthappa and Sachin made hundreds while P Rahul and Salman Nizar chipped in with half-centuries, the Kerala batsmen with the exception of Sanju Samson have found the going tough. The fact that Sanju has been away on national duty in two out of the four matches did not not help their cause. Sanju and pace spearhead Sandeep Warrier are likely to miss most of the remaining four games since they will be touring New Zealand with the India 'A' team.
The talented Vishnu Vinod needs to take up more responsibility in Sanju's absence. The wicketkeeper-batsman looked in good touch in the second innings against both Bengal (33) and Hyderabad (44). However, Vishnu needs to understand that cameos won't win his side games. Also the strokeplayer has to vindicate the faith the team management has placed in him.
This season has been a reality check for the Sachin-Whatmore combination. Sachin has struggled with the bat after the hundred against Delhi and the poor form of openers Rahul and the ever-dependable Jalaj Saxena too has hit the team hard. Sachin's decision to take first strike under overcast conditions against Hyderabad was a huge gamble and it backfired big time. Also the decision to leave out left-arm spinner Sijomon Joseph after the opening encounter has been a huge surprise. Sijomon is also a gutsy batsman down the order and in low-scoring games he could have made a difference. The Kerala batsmen need to be mentally prepared to grind it out rather than go for the easy option of hitting out.
The bowlers have done well in general. The new-ball pair of Sandeep and Basil Thampi have been impressive while Saxena has been steady with his off-spin. However, the fielding has been pretty ordinary and dropped chances have hurt the team.
Kerala, who made it to the semifinals for the very first time last season, next meet Punjab at Thumba on January 11. For Kerala to entertain any hopes of taming the table-toppers they need to raise their game.
