With technique and temperament, Hazare hero Ravichandran Smaran is keeping Karnataka’s batting legacy burning | Cricket News

This was a moment not only Karnataka cricket but also Ravichandran Smaran had been waiting for. A consent performer in age-group cricket, he had been knocking on the doors of the senior setup for at least a couple of years before the selectors chose to reward him this season. Since joining the team in September, Smaran has only been hearing one particular piece of advice – to carry Karnataka’s rich legacy forward. If anything, he has lened to numerous BTS stories of Karnataka’s treble-winning squads from Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Gopal.So when he walked in with Karnataka placed at 64/2, which soon became 67/3, he didn’t need to search for inspiration. With Agarwal who scored 651 runs this Vijay Hazare Trophy back, it looked as if Karnataka’s title drought since 2019 would extend. It was in search of that elusive title that Karnataka had decided to move on from old-guards living on reputation. Hence, the 21-year-old found the spot. So did KV Aneesh (23) and Krishnan Shrijith, who at 28 has just got his career up and running. The three formed the backbone, batting at No 3, 4 & 5 and delivering the title, have ignited hopes of Karnataka’s revival.
“Everyone wanted this trophy badly,” Smaran who scored 101 in the final tells The Indian Express. “So, it feels great, to be honest. I didn’t expect to win a title in the first year in the senior side, but it feels great to contribute to the team’s success,” he says.

Watch 🎥
R Smaran’s brilliant 101 (92) that helped Karnataka post 348/6 in the #Final against Vidarbha 💪💪#VijayHazareTrophy | @IDFCFIRSTBank
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/ZZjfWXaajB pic.twitter.com/K1bmqDC5Ji
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 18, 2025
If not for Smaran’s timely hundred, which propelled Karnataka to 348/6 against Vidarbha before their bowlers completed the job, questions would have been raised. Of course, Smaran, Aneesh and Shrijith had made notable contributions, but Agarwal did the bulk of the scoring. Smaran’s career had not yet taken off in Ranji and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy either. A lot, thus, rode on Vijay Hazare Trophy.
“Everyone was hungry. You need to show that. Talking to Mayank and Shreyas about their title winning seasons they spoke about how as a batting group they scored 12-15 centuries… so this is what we want to do going forward. When you are going through transition, we needed some confidence as well, which the wins against Mumbai and Punjab (two of the strongest batting units) gave us. Those were important because we were not just competing, but became contenders,” Smaran says.
So with Agarwal being the rock at the top, Aneesh stepped in and contributed with four fifties and a tally of 385 runs, Smaran with two centuries and as many fifties scored 432 while Shrijith with a century and a fifty ended up with 303.
Strong technique
But it is Smaran’s performance that made Karnataka’s set-up happy. With a strong technique and a game that suits all three formats, he is seen as India material. The tall batsman mostly times the ball rather than try to hit it, with his shots often an extension of his arms. It is the reason why despite runs not coming in the Ranji Trophy, Karnataka persed with him based on his promise in age-group levels.
“Right from the Ranji season, we have been backed the selectors and the team, which allows you to settle. They gave us ample opportunities and when it didn’t work, they gave role-specific plans. They kept it plain and simple. So there is not much pressure on our backs,” says Smaran.
Smaran’s entry into cricket wasn’t organic. Growing up in a middle-class family in Bengaluru’s JP Nagar, his parents enrolled him at Syed Zabiulla’s Academy for an entirely different reason. “I used to irritate my mom a lot. So they thought cricket would be the best way to deal with it, although I didn’t really have interest in the game.”
Zabiulla, though, would become a game-changer of sorts. “Although he didn’t have interest, he was a kid who respected the subject and the teacher and thanks to his parents, had good qualities. At the academy, once competitiveness took over, he became a different person. Under-14 levels he got very serious and from there on he has hardly looked back,” the coach adds.
In 2022 that would change as well. Just a year before despite getting 92 percent in his Class X exams, he put cricket in the front seat with a dream of finding a spot in India’s U19 squad for the 2022 World Cup. Despite playing the Challengers, he missed out on the spot. But it brought a different side of him. “I didn’t know what to tell him, but he told me, ‘sir, whatever is meant to be will happen. But it is also my responsibility to ensure nobody looks past me.’ That maturity was striking for me,” Zubiulla adds.

For Smaran, the Vijay Hazare title is the springboard he sought. “From the time I came into the dressing room, I’ve heard a lot about this team’s winning culture and how it used to be. It actually ignited a fire in us. We are getting to know what it takes to develop a culture and I feel we have just started.”

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