Kerala Cricket Team
The Kerala cricket team is a domestic cricket team based in the Indian state of Kerala.
It is in the Elite Group of the Ranji Trophy, the premier first class cricket tournament in India. It was known as Travancore-Cochin cricket team until 1957/58.
| Personnel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Captain | Sanju Samson | ||
| Coach | M. Venkataramana | ||
| Owner | Kerala Cricket Association | ||
| Team information | |||
| Colors | Dark Blue | ||
| Founded | 1957 | ||
| Home ground | Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | ||
| Capacity | 55,000 | ||
| History | |||
| First-class debut | Madras in 1957 at Race Course Ground, Madurai | ||
| Ranji Trophy wins | 0 | ||
| Vijay Hazare Trophy wins | 0 | ||
| Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy wins | 0 | ||
| Official website | KCA | ||
| |||
Kerala has produced two Indian Test cricketers, Tinu Yohannan and S. Sreesanth. Sanju Samson has represented India in T20Is and ODIs, while Basil Thampi has a national call-up to his name. The team also lined up ex-Indian International player Sadagoppan Ramesh for two years from 2005 to 2007. Robin Uthappa, a former Indian International player currently plays for Kerala. Kerala has also produced Krishna Chandran, who plays at International level for United Arab Emirates.
Playing history
Kerala began competing in the 1957–58 Ranji Trophy, succeeding the Travancore-Cochin cricket team after the states were reorganized. It competed in the South Zone, against Madras/Tamil Nadu, Mysore/Karnataka, Andhra and Hyderabad. In 1957–58 Kerala lost all four matches, three of them by an innings.
In the 1959–60 season, Kerala's Balan Pandit (262*) and George Abraham (198) put up a 410 runs partnership in the fourth wicket, which is the highest in Indian first-class cricket. Pandit's score remained the highest for Kerala in FC format until the 2007–08 season.
Kerala's best season in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy was in 2012–13 season where they finished 3rd, missing out from finals after losing the last league stage match to eventual champions Gujarat.
At the end of the 2016–17 season, Kerala had played 302 first-class matches, and won 46, lost 140 and drawn 116. In List A cricket Kerala had played 120 matches, with 47 wins, 71 losses and two ties.
Kerala reached the pre-quarterfinal of Ranji Trophy in the 1994–95 season when they progressed as South zone winners under the captaincy of KN Ananthapadmanabhan. They were qualified for the Super League after emerging as the south zone winners in 1996–97 under leadership of Feroze V Rasheed. Kerala reached plate final in 2002–03 and semifinal in 2007–08.
In November 2017, they progressed to the quarter-finals of the Ranji Trophy for the first time, when they finished second in Group B of the 2017–18 tournament.
They put on their best show in Ranji Trophy history when they progressed to the semifinals in 2018–19 season after beating former champions Gujarat in quarters.
Governing body
The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) is the governing body for the Kerala cricket team. It was founded on 1951 and is affiliated to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Kerala State Sports Authority (KSSA). It is the parent body of the 14 district associations in Kerala.
Current squad
Players with International caps are listed in bold.
| Name | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batsmen | |||||
| Rohan Kunnummal | 10 May 1998 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | ||
| Sachin Baby | 18 December 1988 | Left-handed | Right-arm off-break | ||
| Krishna Prasad | 1 July 1999 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | ||
| Rohan Prem | 13 September 1986 | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | ||
| Salman Nizar | 30 June 1997 | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | ||
| Akshay Chandran | 19 October 1993 | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | ||
| Varun Nayanar | 24 October 2002 | Right-handed | |||
| All-rounder | |||||
| Abdul Basith | 9 October 1998 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | ||
| Wicket-keepers | |||||
| Vishnu Vinod | 15 February 1993 | Right-handed | Plays for Mumbai Indians in IPL | ||
| Sanju Samson | 11 November 1994 | Right-handed | Captain Plays for Rajasthan Royals in IPL | ||
| Mohammed Azharuddeen | 22 March 1994 | Right-handed | |||
| Spin-bowlers | |||||
| Shreyas Gopal | 4 September 1993 | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | ||
| Jalaj Saxena | 15 December 1986 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | ||
| Vaisakh Chandran | 31 May 1996 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | ||
| Sijomon Joseph | 28 September 1997 | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | Vice-captain | |
| Pace bowlers | |||||
| Basil Thampi | 11 September 1993 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | ||
| Akhin Sathar | 1 December 2002 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | ||
| MD Nidheesh | 5 May 1991 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | ||
| Akhil Scaria | 5 October 1998 | Left-handed | Right-arm medium | ||
| Nedumankuzhy Basil | 20 October 1996 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | ||
| Vinod Kumar | 31 July 1987 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | ||
| KM Asif | 24 July 1993 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | ||
| Unnikrishnan Manukrishnan | 4 October 1988 | Left-handed | Left-arm medium | ||
Updated as on 19 January 2024
Support Staff
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Team Manager | Nazir Machan |
| Head coach | M. Venkataramana |
| Assistant coach | M Raja Gopal |
| Strength and conditioning Coach | Vysakh Krishna |
| Physiotherapist | Unnikrishnan RS |
| Video Analyst | Saji S |
Stadiums
International stadiums
Active Stadium
| Sl. No | Name | City | Capacity | No. of matches | First match | Last match | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | ODIs | T20Is | |||||||
| 1 | Greenfield International Stadium | Thiruvananthapuram | 55,000 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 November 2017 | 8 December 2019 | |
Former Stadiums
| Sl. No | Name | City | Capacity | No. of matches | First match | Last match | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | ODIs | T20Is | |||||||
| 1 | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium | Kochi | 80,000 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 April 1998 | 8 October 2014 | |
| 2 | University Stadium | Thiruvananthapuram | 20,000 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 October 1984 | 25 January 1988 | |
Other stadiums
| Sl. No | Name | City | Capacity | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Ground | Ernakulam | 5000 | |
| 2 | Conor Vayal Stadium | Kannur | — | |
| 3 | Military Maidan | Kannur | — | |
| 4 | Police Ground | Kannur | 2000 | |
| 5 | Cochin Refineries Ltd Ground | Kochi | 3000 | |
| 6 | Fort Cochin Parade Maidan | Kochi | 3000 | |
| 7 | Maharaja College Stadium | Kochi | 15,000 | |
| 8 | Premier Tyres Oval | Kochi | 10,000 | |
| 9 | St Paul's College Ground | Kochi | — | |
| 10 | Nehru Stadium | Kottayam | 18,000 | |
| 11 | Cochin Corporation Stadium | Kozhikode | 15,000 | |
| 12 | Manachira Maidan | Kozhikode | 1000 | |
| 13 | Calicut Medical College Stadium | Kozhikode | 10,000 | |
| 14 | Medical College Ground | Kozhikode | 5000 | |
| 15 | Regional Engineering College Ground | Kozhikode | 3000 | |
| 16 | Malabar State Police Ground | Malappuram | 1000 | |
| 17 | Perintalmanna Cricket Stadium | Malappuram | — | |
| 18 | Fort Maidan | Palakkad | 10,000 | |
| 19 | The Government Victoria College Ground | Palakkad | 2000 | |
| 20 | Municipal Stadium | Thalassery | 7500 | |
| 21 | KCA Cricket Ground | Thiruvananthapuram | — | |
| 22 | Lakshmibhai National College of Physical Education Ground | Thiruvananthapuram | 10,000 | |
| 23 | Medical College Ground | Thiruvananthapuram | 2000 | |
| 24 | St. Xavier's College Ground, Thumba | Thiruvananthapuram | — | |
| 25 | Vellyani Agricultural College Ground | Thiruvananthapuram | 10,000 | |
| 26 | University Stadium | Thiruvananthapuram | 10,000 | |
| 27 | Municipal Stadium | Thrissur | 1500 | |
| 28 | Krishnagiri Stadium | Wayanad | — | |
| 29 | Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium | Kollam | 30,000 | |
| 30 | Sree Narayana College Ground | Kollam | 3000 | |
| 31 | Sanatana Dharma College Ground | Alappuzha | — | |
| 32 | Thiruvalla Municipal Stadium | Pathanamthitta | — | |
| 33 | Central Stadium | Thiruvananthapuram | — |
Famous players
Players from Kerala who have played Test cricket for India, along with year of Test debut:
- Tinu Yohannan (2001)
- Shanthakumaran Sreesanth (2006)
Players from Kerala who have played ODI but not Test cricket for India, along with year of ODI debut:
- Sanju Samson (2021)
Cricketers who played a large portion of their career for Kerala, and played T20I for India, along with year of T20I debut :
- Sandeep Warrier (2021)
Cricketers from other state teams who also played for Kerala, and played international cricket for India, along with year of international debut:
- Sujith Somasunder (1996)
- Sadagoppan Ramesh (1999)
- Robin Uthappa (2006)
Prominent cricketers at the domestic level:
- Ajay Varma
- Ajay Kudua
- Antony Sebastian
- B. Ramprakash
- Balan Pandit
- Basil Thampi
- Feroze V Rasheed
- Kelappan Thampuran
- K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan
- K Jayaraman
- Padmanabhan Prasanth
- Prasanth Parameswaran
- Krishna Chandran (Represented UAE)
- Raiphi Gomez
- Rohan Prem
- Sachin Baby
- Sony Cheruvathur
- Sreekumar Nair
- Sunil Oasis
- Thomas Mathew
- VA Jagadeesh
References
Bibliography
- Ramaswami, N.S. (1976). Indian Cricket: A Complete History. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications. ISBN 9788170170440.
- Wisden (2014). The Shorter Wisden India Almanack 2014. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781472917188.
- Bose, Mihir (1990). A History of Indian Cricket. Rupa & Company. ISBN 9780233985633.
External links
- Kerala at CricketArchive
- Official website
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