The unlikely Ranji contenders: Andhra reach quarters on pluck and little bit of luck

Since the start of the last decade, Andhra have made it to the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals only twice. The first time was in 2014/15 when they lost to Maharashtra. In 2019/20, they lost out on the first-innings lead to Saurashtra. And now they are here again, hoping to get third time lucky as they take on defending champions Madhya Pradesh at Indore with a hope of making the semi-finals for the first time.
Placed in Group B alongside Saurashtra, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Assam and Hyderabad, Andhra were not even fancied to qualify at the start. And even when the last round of league matches began last week, Andhra were rank outsiders to make the quarterfinals. They were in the fourth spot with Maharashtra and Mumbai ahead of them. When they defeated Assam an innings in their last match to get a bonus point, they were still not assured of a place. Resigned to fate, some of the players had already left for home, fully believing the season was over as the probability of Mumbai and Maharashtra ending with the same first innings total being very small.
“We had one per cent chance to qualify for the quarterfinals when the last round began,” Andhra captain Hanuma Vihari told The Indian Express. “Once we ended up with 7 more points to the tally, we had done our part. The probability of both teams ending on the same total was very less. So once we were done with the game, we left for home. And once the first innings was tied, the interest came back. But even then, I wasn’t so sure because I thought both (Maharashtra and Mumbai) would go for an outright win because they had nothing to lose. Eventually how it panned out worked perfectly for us,” Vihari said.

Team effort to get an outright against Tamilnadu!Onwards and upwards from here!!#teamandhra pic.twitter.com/1MNrxEkAex
— Hanuma vihari (@Hanumavihari) December 23, 2022
When their quarter-final clash begins at the Holkar Stadium on Tuesday, all of this will count for nothing. They are not only up against hory, but are also against a team that is showing no vulnerability under head coach Chandrakant Pandit. So naturally, Andhra will enter the contest as underdogs, which in a way should work for them. With focus being elsewhere, they have thrived this season, evident in their wins against Tamil Nadu and Saurashtra. The win against TN, came against nowhere, as they pulled off a victory from the jaws of defeat.
Unlike some of the other teams, Andhra hardly had any preparatory camp before the Ranji Trophy began. Vihari made his switch from Hyderabad to Andhra only a few days before the season began. In fact, they had just a couple of days time to put the act together, as Vihari and head coach Yere Goud focussed more on building a culture where winning the title has become their ultimate target.
“Our effort and intention towards playing Ranji Trophy this year was to win against any team that comes our way. Obviously there is a lot of planning and strategising that goes around it, but most importantly I feel is the attitude that has made the difference. I just told the players that if you are playing the Ranji Trophy, the sole purpose should be winning the title. Winning the trophy should be our goal…it can happen this year or next or in three years. But that should be the ultimate goal and we should work towards it. There should be a purpose behind every practice session,” Vihari said.
Although they have long been in the shadows of Hyderabad, the landscape has been changing in the past decade. Be it making the knockouts of the Vijay Hazare Trophy or Ranji Trophy, Andhra are giving talents to the national side. Apart from Vihari, there is KS Bharat and in the last Under-19 World Cup, they gave Sheik Rasheed a player who is earmarked as a future star. With a good mix of experienced players and youngsters – Rasheed, Nitish Kumar Redddy – in the mix, Andhra have been able to click together as a unit.
“If you see Andhra cricket, we have been playing consent cricket only in patches. The target was to bring that consency into us – be it with bat or ball. Even as a captain it was important for me to keep them in the right space and back players and give a consent run. We (myself and coach) worked out perfectly as to how to go about this season especially about giving chances to youngsters who deserve it and are ready to play. So when you back the guys with the right attitude, it showed in the results.
“To have four outright wins in this group is quite a challenge. Each time we took the field we were always looking for the win, and not just be happy with three points. Even if we had not qualified, we thought we were on the right track for next season. Eventually things went our way and I feel things went our way only because we played good cricket,” Vihari added.

Next up is Madhya Pradesh, a team that has been together for a while and knows what it needs to win. Vihari though is quietly confident. “They have a very good coach and are playing in their own conditions. We just have to stick to the process that got us here. That is the most important thing.”