Abhishek P. Nair played his first Ranji Trophy match in circumstances most unusual. He came in as a concussion substitute in the second innings of the match against Saurashtra last year, for opener A.K. Akarsh, who was making his debut.

Abhishek walked in at a difficult time. Kerala needed to bat out time to ensure a draw at Thiruvananthapuram, his hometown. He batted for 87 balls, and Kerala managed to get the draw.

Almost a year later, Abhishek got to play a Ranji match in the conventional way. And he made it count, scoring a magnificent hundred, but Kerala ended day three against Jharkhand in not a very comfortable position.

In reply to the host’s 587, Kerala reached 269 for six. Overtaking that score doesn’t look very likely: not much batting is left. Avoiding the follow-on should be a priority, but that target (436) isn’t easy.

The Jharkhand men indeed have every reason to step on to the field at the Keenan Stadium on Wednesday morning with spring in their steps. They took control after the Kerala top-order looked in command in the first half of the day.

The visitors were 204 for one at one stage, but lost five wickets for an addition of another 45 runs. That, actually, mirrored the Jharkhand innings. The home side, however, staged a splendid fightback through a sixth-wicket stand by captain Virat Singh and Aditya Singh, who both hit hundreds.

Kerala had begun very well though, with Abhishek and Rohan Kunnummal batting with confidence and flair. But Rohan’s unwise and unsure loft towards long-off against Utkarsh Singh proved costly, as he was caught well by Sushant Mishra, running in from the boundary and timing his dive perfectly.

Abhishek, however, continued to bat sensibly even as playing some delectable shots, before he was caught and bowled by left-arm spinner Manishi Singh. Spinners indeed could have a big role to play on the final day.

The scores: Jharkhand — 1st innings: 587.

Kerala — 1st innings: Abhishek P. Nair c & b Manishi 126, Rohan Kunnummal c Sushant b Uktarsh 44, Sachin Baby c Minz b Utkarsh 35, Vishnu Vinod lbw b Quraishi 15, Salman Nizar (batting) 17, Mohammed Azharuddeen c sub (Sagar) b Quraishi 0, Jalaj Saxena lbw b Utkarsh 7, Aditya Sarwate (batting) 13; Extras (b-4, lb-1, w-2, pen-5) 12; Total (for six wkts. in 90 overs): 269.

Fall of wickets: 1-83, 2-204, 3-224, 4-232, 5-232, 6-249.

Jharkhand bowling: Sahil 5-1-11-0, Sushant 7-0-39-0, Manishi 18-3-62-1, Uktarsh 24-5-54-3, Shekhar 6-0-27-0, Quraishi 19-7-38-2, Aditya 11-2-28-0.

For much of the last two days, the wicket at the Keenan Stadium was a lot flatter than the road from the Ranchi airport to this city of steel. Virat Singh and Aditya Singh showed steely resolve to make use of that batting paradise.

They both scored hundreds, put on a mammoth partnership for the sixth wicket for Jharkhand, and almost batted Kerala out of the Ranji Trophy match. The host’s first innings ended only off the second-last ball of the second day, for 587.

It was indeed a long day in the field for Kerala. That one of its bowlers, seamer Edhen Apple Tom, could not even take the field after getting injured, didn’t help either. It meant more workload for the other bowlers, who were tormented by the sheer grit and patience of Virat (108, 264b, 9×4) and Aditya (147, 278b, 17×4). The duo resumed at the overnight score of 289 for five and remained unseparated at lunch. As they were at tea.

Aditya was the first to reach three figures. And it was his maiden hundred in senior cricket.

“I had scored hundreds in age-group cricket, but scoring a First Class hundred is indeed a different thing,” the spinning all-rounder said. “And I am glad that I could build that big partnership with the captain.”

The partnership was worth 227. “After losing four wickets quickly on the first day, our aim was to bat at least till the drinks break, and then we wanted to stay there till lunch,” the skipper said.

The partnership ended when Vaisakh Chandran induced an edge with a ball that turned and had Virat caught at slip. The off-spinner went on to pick up his second five-wicket haul in Ranji Trophy.

The final session saw the dead track responding a bit to spin.

That isn’t good news for Kerala, of course.

The scores: Jharkhand — 1st Innings: Shikhar Mohan b Vaisakh 143, Sharandeep Singh b Jalaj 33, Utkarsh Singh c Baby b Jalaj 71, Virat Singh c Baby b Vaisakh 108, Robin Minz b Vaisakh 10, Kounain Quraishi c Baby b Vaisakh 10, Aditya Singh b Sarwate 147, Sahil Raj b Sarwate 19, Manishi Singh c Azharuddeen b Jalaj 20, Sushant Mishra lbw b Vaisakh 18, Saurabh Shekhar (not out) 0; Extras (b-4, lb-3, w-1): 8; Total (in 179.5 overs): 587.

Fall of wickets: 1-87, 2-250, 3-252, 4-269, 5-279, 6-506, 7-534, 8-549, 9-570.

Kerala bowling: Nidheesh 26-3-93-0, Edhen 10-1-45-0, Jalaj 51.5-12-126-3, Sarwate 36-6-116-2, Vaisakh 49-6-166-5, Abhishek 1-0-11-0, Vishnu 4-1-10-0, Baby 2-0-13-0.

All-rounder Jalaj Saxena will represent Kerala in the 2026-27 domestic season. Jalaj, who played for Maharashtra in the 2025-26 season, didn’t take part in the Maharashtra Premier League (MPL) in June. He applied for an NOC and the BCCI approved his transfer, making him eligible to play for Kerala.

The BCCI clearance came on the eve of the Kerala Cricket League player auction. Alleppey Ripples, for whom Jalaj played last season, was quick to retain him for ₹5 lakh. Jalaj was also actively involved in the auction as part of Ripples’ bidding team. 

Mohammed Azharuddeen, former Kerala Ranji Trophy captain, welcomed Jalaj back, stating that his availability will be a big boost for Kerala.

“He is a proven match-winner. We all know the value he brings to the side. We struggled to take wickets last season, and Jalaj will strengthen our bowling in the upcoming season,” he said.

Jalaj, who left Kerala after nine seasons, had taken 25 wickets and scored 164 runs for Maharashtra in the Ranji Trophy last season. 

For Kerala, Jalaj has taken 352 wickets and scored 3,153 runs across all formats. In the Ranji Trophy alone, Jalaj scored 2,252 runs, including three centuries, and took 269 wickets with 23 five-wicket hauls for Kerala. He remains the only cricketer to score 6,000 runs and take 400 wickets in Ranji Trophy.