Guest player Aparajith, two debutants give Kerala decent start in Indore

Half centuries from Baba Aparajith and Abijith Praveen took Kerala to 246/7 on Day 1 of their Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh in Indore on Sunday.

Vice-captain Aparajith remained unbeaten on 81, while Praveen made 60 and opener Abhishek Nair added 47 for the visitors. For Madhya Pradesh, Saransh Jain and Arshad Khan bagged three wickets each.

Abhishek and Abijith are 21-year-old batters who earned their senior debuts following poor performances by a few senior campaigners. Former skipper Sachin Baby continued his poor run after being dismissed for a duck.

Star opener Rohan Kunnummal, who returned to form with 80 in the first innings against Saurashtra last week, was also dismissed for a duck. Captain Mohammed Azharuddeen made 14, while guest player Ankit Sharma added 20.

For the third match in a row, Kerala are without star batter Sanju Samson, who recently completed a famous IPL switch to Chennai Super Kings from Rajasthan Royals.

Kerala, last season's runners-up, are yet to win a match in four outings this season. After draws against Maharashtra and Punjab, in which they conceded first innings lead, Kerala suffered an innings defeat to Karnataka before taking lead for the first time in the season in the drawn match against Saurashtra.

Brief scores: Kerala 246/7 in 90 overs (Baba Aparajith 81 not out, Abijith Praveen 60, Abhishek Nair 47, Saransh Jain 3/38, Arshad Khand 3/45) vs Madhya Pradesh. Stumps on Day 1