Wedged in a group of former champions, it was imperative for Kerala to start its home campaign with a win. After beating the weather gods to pocket the maximum seven points from the Ranji Trophy 2026 round two match against Odisha, both captain Vishnu Vinod and coach Swapnil Asnodkar were happy with the manner in which the team bounced back to overcome the adversity.

“Our game plan was very simple. We only wanted to bat once in this match. Our plan was to score 350 runs but got fifty extra runs and I have no complaints,” said Asnodkar.

“We didn’t have the best of starts on the first morning, but credit to both Sachin Baby and Mohammed Azharuddeen for hanging in there and making it count. We have two good experienced spinners, and they can be lethal when there is little help for them. Odisha fought well, but Jalaj’s strikes late on the third day made the difference. In a way, it was a perfect match for us.”

It is early days in Vishnu Vinod’s captaincy tenure, but he has shown the calmness and maturity needed for the job. After tasting his second win as captain, Vishnu praised the effort of the batters and spinners.

“Things have gone the way we planned. I am happy with the way we have batted so far this season. There have been contributions from the top order, and there are already three centuries this season.

“I am sure others will strike form as the season progresses. Spin is definitely our strength. It was important to rotate the spinners and give them enough rest. We got wickets at regular intervals and at the right time,’’ he said.

Kerala will look for an early course correction as it returns to familiar home terrain against Odisha in a second round match of the Ranji Trophy at the Sports Hub Greenfield stadium here on Sunday.

Kerala’s season opener against Jharkhand in Jamshedpur was chastening as it was thoroughly dominated by its rival. Though Kerala followed-on, it managed to hang on for a draw. But the match exposed Kerala’s limitations in both batting and bowling. It allowed Jharkhand’s lower order to prosper as the host piled up a huge first innings total.

Kerala’s familiar top-order collapse on a flat track, after Abhishek P. Nair’s attacking century, is a major cause of concern. Mohammed Azharuddeen’s lean patch with the bat has continued in this season as well.

However, Abhishek’s century, Aditya Sarvate’s rearguard knock and Vaisakh Chandran’s five-wicket haul were the big takeaways for Kerala from the opening fixture.

To shore up its batting, Kerala has included under-23 captain Abhishek J. Nair who recently lashed an unbeaten ton against Pondicherry. The host will look to maximise its home advantage against Odisha which suffered a crushing 10-wicket defeat in its opening match against Gujarat.

While Odisha had its moments against Gujarat, a second innings collapse on the final day cost it the match. The visitor will be looking for an improved show against the host.

However, the weather may have a decisive say in the outcome of the match. With the arrival of the North East monsoon in Kerala, the capital city has been experiencing steady rainfall for the last few days.

Heavy rain forced the teams to cancel their net sessions on Saturday and with the forecast for more showers in the coming days, the weather could very well play spoilsport.

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.

The player auction for the third season of the Kerala Cricket League (KCL) is expected to spring a few surprises, with some of the biggest names in Kerala cricket going under the hammer on Saturday.  

Explosive batter and IPL star Vishnu Vinod, former Kerala captain Sachin Baby, Vignesh Puthur, under-19 internationals Manav Krishna and Mohammed Ennan, and veteran all-rounder Vinoop Manoharan are among the 139 players up for grabs

However, it is unlikely that any of these players will break Sanju Samson’s record-breaking price of ₹26.80 lakh, which Kochi Blue Tigers paid last season. 

While the six franchises have retained a total of 17 players, they are expected to spend the remaining purse wisely to build their squads. Each franchisee must buy at least four players from Pool A category. 

The total team budget and salary cap of players across all categories remained unchanged from last season.

The 32 players enlisted in Pool A command a base price of ₹3 lakh. Pool B features 37 players with a base price of ₹1.5 lakh. Pool C, which comprises under-19 and club-level cricketers, has the highest representation, with 87 players all carrying a base price of ₹75,000. 

Having retained only Mohammed Azharuddeen, Alleppey Ripples enters the auction with the maximum available budget of ₹42.5 lakh. 

The available purse with the other franchises is as follows: Kochi Blue Tigers (₹41 lakh); Trivandrum Royals (₹39.5 lakh); Aries Kollam Sailors (₹34.5 lakh); Thrissur Titans (₹34.5 lakh); Calicut Globstars (₹33.75 lakh).

Charu Sharma will return as the auctioneer for the third successive season. 

Kerala batter Mohammed Azharuddeen on Sunday replaced Tilak Varma as the South Zone captain for the Duleep Trophy semifinal against North Zone, starting at the BCCI Centre of Excellence on September 4.

Tilak Varma, who was originally named the South skipper, will not be playing the Duleep Trophy after he was named in the India squad for the upcoming Asia Cup.

Azharuddeen was the vice-captain of the side, and now that role has been handed to Tamil Nadu’s N Jagadeesan. Tamil Nadu left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore too will not be playing in the semifinal for South Zone as he is still recuperating from a hand injury that forced him to skip the recent Buchi Babu Trophy.

Ankit Sharma of Puducherry and Shaikh Rasheed of Andhra have been added to the South squad for the Duleep Trophy last four match. Both the players were already named in the standbys. Ankit is a left-arm spinner who has taken 168 wickets from 68 First-Class matches, while Rasheed is a 20-year-old top-order batter who has made 1204 runs from 19 Ranji Trophy games. He was drafted in by Chennai Super Kings during IPL 2025.

Revised South Zone squad: Mohammed Azharuddeen (Captain), Tanmay Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal, Mohit Kale, Salman Nizar, Narayan Jagadeesan, Tripurana Vijay, Tanay Thyagarajan, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Nidheesh MD, Ricky Bhui, Basil NP, Gurjapneet Singh, Snehal Kauthankar, Ankit Sharma, Shaikh Rasheed. Standbys: Mohit Redkar, R Smaran, Edhen Apple Tom, Andre Siddarth.