After five rounds of the Ranji Trophy season, Andhra sits second in the Group A table with 22 points, three behind leader and domestic heavyweight Vidarbha.

Two thumping wins against Odisha and Jharkhand aside, a famous four-wicket triumph over Tamil Nadu remains one of the highlights of the campaign.

Andhra’s run has had contributions from wise, old heads and young, enthusiastic minds in equal measure. Twenty-one-year-old Shaik Rasheed (440 runs, two centuries, two fifties), 31-year-old Abhishek Reddy (447, 1, 2), and 32-year-old K.S. Bharat (311, 1, 2) have led the charge with the willow.

With the ball, 32-year-old Saurabh Kumar is at the forefront with 23 wickets. He has been ably supported by 24-year-old Tripurana Vijay (14) and 25-year-old Kavuri Saiteja (11).

A nagging persistence to grind its way out of a rut has been Andhra’s strength this time, something the side hails new coach Gary Stead for.

“The atmosphere he has created has been great. Even if things are not going well, he makes sure that we stay positive,” Andhra skipper Ricky Bhui told The Hindu.

Backing the players

Unlike the myopic selection and blind purple patch pursuits Andhra has often been guilty of before, a major change now is backing players even if their returns stutter here and there in a campaign.

“Usually, the team is picked, and then we have a 10-day camp. This time, we had about 30 members in a 20-day pre-season camp. Gary wanted to see all the boys. He wanted to know the style of cricket we play and stuff like that.”

“Even if the opposition has the upper hand, the coach has asked us to keep small goals, forget about the future, and focus on finding solutions in the present. That has also made our lives easier,” K.V. Sasikanth chimed in.

“I honestly feel that we’ll do something really special this year. The goal is to finish in the first position on the table. After that, we will take it a game at a time and see where we go,” Ricky added, with clashes against Vidarbha and Nagaland awaiting the side.