Kerala’s Edhen Apple Tom is player of match on Ranji debut

Just over 10 days ago, when the Kerala Ranji Trophy squad was announced, one name captured the attention of cricket followers across the country. After all, if one is named Edhen Apple Tom, a classic from the stable of unique Kerala names, one would become the talk of the town before bowling a single ball in first-class cricket.
But as Kerala notched up an innings-and-166-run win against Meghalaya, Edhen ensured that everyone will now talk about his bowling, not his name.

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First-ball wickets in both innings, six wickets overall (4/41 & 2/30) and player-of-the-match award on debut, the 16-year-old right-arm pacer has begun his career spectacularly.
“I have got a good start to my career. It has been a dreamy few days for me. But I know this is just a start. The second match is against much more formidable opponents, Gujarat. I would like to do better against them and keep performing,” Edhen told indianexpress.com from Rajkot.
In both innings, Edhen forced the batsmen – Kishan Lyngdhoh and D Ravi Teja – to nick to slips off the very first ball he bowled.
The first-ball wickets, Edhen says, were not entirely down to luck. “It was not entirely unexpected. I had planned to bowl full and got the edge both times,” he said.
Edhen’s performance justified Kerala coach Tinu Yohannan’s call to include the pacer in the squad after seeing his bowling in the nets during the preparatory camp in Alappuzha ahead of the Ranji Trophy.
“We took him seeing his potential and everyone, from the association to the team management, stood behind that decision, and it paid off. Here (in Rajkot), the conditions and the pitch were favourable to him. It is a good start obviously, but tougher opponents and conditions will come up before him. What we expect from him is consency,” said Yohannan.
Yohannan rates the simplicity of Edhen’s action as his biggest strength. “He has got a very simple, easy action. And his mind is not cluttered while bowling as he is not thinking too much. He has got decent speed and good seam position, and above all, is very accurate,” said Yohannan.

Rapid progress
Edhen, who moved along with his father from Dubai to Thiruvananthapuram in 2018 to pursue cricket, has improved leaps and bounds in the last two years, says long-term mentor and former Kerala captain Sony Cheruvathur.
“Edhen stayed very close to the Love All Sports Academy and worked really hard on his game with coach Karthik Rajan and trainer Shanavas. Even when travel restrictions were there, he would come for practice and got fitter and stronger. That is showing in his game now,” said Cheruvathur.
Cheruvathur coached Edhen from the age of eight at his academy in Dubai and has seen his growth up close.
“Initially when I saw him, he was a bowler who bowled off the wrong foot. But gradually, that changed. Now, he keeps it simple. His action may not look explosive but his transfer of weight is very good and he has got a very natural in-swing at this young age. Moreover, he puts an effort into learning new things,” said Cheruvathur who also sees a potential allrounder in Edhen.
It was his performance in the U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy (16 wickets) that opened the door to the Kerala nets for Edhen. He took five wickets against Gujarat in his first-ever game for Kerala in age-group cricket. Now, he will look to repeat that performance against the senior Gujarat team in Kerala’s next Ranji Trophy game to prove that he is no one-match wonder.

Brief scores (Elite Group A):
Meghalaya 148 (Punit Bisht 93; Edhen Apple Tom 4/41, U Manukrishnan 3/34, S Sreesanth 2/40) & 191 (Chirag Khurana 75, Dippu Sangma 55 not out; Basil Thampi 4/43, Jalaj Saxena 3/28, Edhen Apple Tom 2/30) lost to Kerala 505/9 dec (P Rahul 147, Rohan Kunnummal 147, Vatsal Govind 106 not out, Sachin Ba 56; Aryan Bora 3/105, Chirag Khurana 3/130) an innings and 166 runs.