Catch dropped, spinners awry: A forgettable day for Kerala in Ranji Trophy final | Cricket News

Under the enormous stairs behind the dressing room, fans were clicking photographs with Vidarbha’s cricketers after the day’s play. Yash Rathod rubbed his jaws, tired after the selfie spree with his parents and relatives. A few yards away, near the lawns, Harsh Dubey was busily reeling off autographs to a bunch of schoolboys. Squad members frolicked in the corridor of the dressing room. Officials greeted each other with warm smiles and hugs. An irrepressible air of festivity soaked the Jamtha. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEO
One more day remains to wrap up a largely absorbing Ranji Trophy, but Vidarbha have sauntered to a spot of near-infallibility. The hosts have gathered a lead of 286 runs, have six wickets intact, and are in no mood to make the game adventurous declaring early. “We want to bat as long as possible,” Vidarbha’s batting pillar Karun Nair would say. His side would have no overwhelming aspirations to venture for an outright victory, rather they would travel the safe route of batting Kerala out of the game and prevail the virtue of the first innings lead.
Twice have slender first-innings lead rescued Kerala in the knockouts. But this game has perhaps sailed, beyond any interventions of fortune, or miracle, or their own will to regather from the brink. Maybe, they knew this as much when they dragged their battered bodies and bruised souls past the boundary lines. They rushed tracelessly to the comfort of their hotels, where they would wish the day to end as early as possible. Or to think that the day didn’t ex at all. Or how a day that began with promise ended in tears.
Story continues below this ad

ALSO READ:With an unbeaten 132, Karun Nair reminds selectors of his hunger for big runs
Belief buzzed when Vidarbha slipped to 7 for 2. MD Nidheesh was purchasing seam movement both ways; Jalaj Saxena was finding natural variation. Their first-innings tormentor Danish Malewar looked edgy; Karun Nair could be vulnerable at the start of the innings. But like receding waves during low tide, hope waned. On a day, they had to put their life on the line, they shrunk to their shells. Malewar survived a close DRS, judged not out on on-field umpire’s call. He overturned an lbw, off Nidheesh, seeking DRS.
In these moments, Kerala felt the day was not destined to be theirs. Both were close verdicts, but they entered sulk mood and let the game drift with confounding tactics and careless fielding. If Sachin Ba’s intemperate slow-sweep haunted Kerala on Friday, Akshay Chandran’s hapless spilling of Karun on 31 would torture them on Saturday. Eden Apple Tom had industriously set up Karun for a poke outside the off-stump. He teased him with full balls swinging away, traded a four in the bargain, pulled his length back a bit and made the ball leap awkwardly at him. The edge meandered playfully into Akshay’s palms. But somehow, the ball bobbled out of his hands. He had gloriously misjudged the pace of the ball. Eden was draught, the rest wore a resigned look, as though they had not any energy left in them for one final push before the ball got old and lost its sting.

for Karun Nair
A splendid knock on the big stage under pressure
It’s his th in all formats combined this season, and the celebration says it all#RanjiTrophy | @IDFCFIRSTBank | #Final
Scorecard https://t.co/up5GVaflpp pic.twitter.com/9MvZSHKKMY
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) March 1, 2025
The tactics were bizarrely defensive. Kerala’s comeback aspirations relied on picking wickets. But they were more conscious about stopping runs. It played into the accumulation ploys of Karun and Malewar, who rotated the strike with ridiculous ease, without the pressure of close-in fielders. Even when Jalaj bowled over the stumps on a line outside the off-stump, a slipsman was shockingly absent. Only after a few edges whizzed past the cordon was a man deputed at first slip. In contrast, Vidarbha had warmed the Kerala batsmen’s ear with the chorus of the close-in fielders. Apart from a short-leg, mid-off and mid-wicket, most of Kerala’s fielders prowled in the deep, or were in run-saving rather than catching positions.
When impatience grew, the strip became relatively comfortable to bat on, Kerala lost patience and began to shuffle their bowlers without any concerted plan. In his over-exuberance, Nidheesh repeatedly ran into the danger area and was twice warned. NP Basil rumbled from around the stumps and bowled four disciplined overs for six runs, before he was taken out and never thrown the ball again. Eden bowled with the sprightliness of a 19-year-old, but lost his radar after the dropped catch. Story continues below this ad
The spinners, on whom Kerala had invested their hopes, were wholesome letdowns. Jalaj erred with his lengths, giving Karun and Malewar the time and width to work him effortlessly off the legs. Sarwate barely spun the ball and bowled guilelessly. The spinners, combined, eked out only two wickets in 57 overs on the same deck Harsh Dubey and Parth Rekhade coaxed turn and bounce. Worse, the Kerala pair hardly looked piercing enough to pick a wicket, forget a flurry of them required to put on a fight. It meant, Kerala let their indefatigability fade on the penultimate day of the season. Unless they plot an OG he, they would reflect on this day as one of lost opportunities. Vidarbha, contrastingly, is in a festive mood.