Kerala will look to take the positives on the batting front from its drawn first-round match against Hyderabad as the team locks horns with Andhra in the Ranji Trophy Elite Pool B match at the St. Xavier’s cricket stadium, Thumba, from Monday.
Kerala was in the hunt for the crucial first innings lead, having put up a big total of 495 for six declared, before incessant rain and defensive batting by the Hyderabad middle order stopped it from achieving its objective.
The host will now be seeking to avenge its rather dramatic defeat at the hands of Andhra in the Vijay Hazare Trophy early this season. Kerala is likely to play the same eleven as in its opener.
Strong batting
The side, of course, will be rooting for a repeat performance by its top order including skipper Sachin Baby and V.A. Jagadeesh, the centurions of the last week’s encounter while hoping that its bowling brigade, comprising Sandeep Warrier, Basil Thampi, Jalaj Saxena, Akshay Chandran and K.C. Akshay, will rise to the occasion.
Andhra, which took three points against Punjab in the first round, is a combative unit even though it will be missing the services of two of its stalwarts — skipper G. Hanuma Vihari and wicketkeeper-batsman K.S. Bharat — both away on national duty with the India-A squad.
In the absence of Vihari, it will B. Sumanth who will lead the team here as Andhra seeks to keep its momentum going. It was steered out of trouble against Punjab by the stylish right-handed batsman Ricky Bhui (181) who was instrumental in Andhra getting to the crucial lead.
Andhra — to match up its strong battling line-up — has an impressive array of bowlers also with Karn Sharma, the leg-break specialist, in its ranks. The clay pitch, which has its quota of grass on it, should help the tweakers towards the final stages.
The teams (from):
Kerala: Sachin Baby (Capt.), K.B. Arun Karthick, Jalaj S. Saxena, Rohan Prem, Sanju V. Samson (wk), V.A. Jagadeesh, Salman Nizar, Akshay Chandran, Sandeep Warrier, Basil Thampi, K.C. Akshay, Vishnu Vinod, P. Rahul, M.D. Nidheesh and Vinoop S. Manoharan.
Andhra: B. Sumanth (Capt.), Ashwin Hebbar, Imandi Karthik Raman, Ricky Bhui, Karn Sharma, Ayyappa Bandaru, D.B. Prasanth Kumar, P. Vijay Kumar, Shoib Mohammed Khan, Siva Charan Singh (wk), D. B. Ravi Teja, K.V. Sasikanth, P. Girinath Reddy, G. Manish, Jyothi Krishna and C.V. Stephen.