He may be better known as an umpire now, but K.N. Ananthapadmanabhan was one of the best spinners on India’s domestic circuit for years, with 344 wickets in First-Class cricket. He was also the captain when Kerala qualified for the knockout stage of the Ranji Trophy for the first time in 1994-95. Twenty years later, Kerala is in the final of India’s premier domestic tournament.
And Ananthapadmanabhan is delighted.
“This is Kerala’s 1983 moment,” he tells Sportstar, comparing it to India’s first-ever World Cup triumph. “It is a great achievement and this place in the final is earned by Kerala.”
In the final starting at Nagpur on Wednesday, Kerala will take on Vidarbha. Ananthapadmanabhan, who was the TV umpire of the semifinal in which Vidarbha beat Mumbai, believes it should be an exciting contest.
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“Vidarbha is perhaps the most balanced side in the Ranji Trophy,” he says. “They have a strong batting line-up and an excellent bowling attack. I am particularly impressed by their left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey, who needs just three more wickets to be a Ranji season’s most successful bowler. Seamer Yash Thakur is also quite good.”
Ananthapadmanabhan feels Kerala has the team to stop the host. “The way Kerala has fought back from tough situations on several occasions has been remarkable,” he says. “Salman Nizar and Mohammed Azharuddeen were brilliant with the bat and it was great to see the tailenders putting up a brave display time after time.”
He is all praise for Jalaj Saxena. “He has been a magnificent servant for Kerala cricket ever since he joined the team as a professional,” he says. “It is good that Kerala added Aditya Sarwate to the squad this year; they now form a superb spin attack.”
Looking back to his playing days, Ananthapadmanabhan says Kerala had surprised everyone in 1994-95. “The Ranji Trophy in those days was, of course, played on a zonal-basis and Kerala was regarded as one of the weaker sides,” he recalls.
“Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Hyderabad were the big teams. And it was never easy to beat or even take the first-innings lead against those teams, but at Palakkad, we beat Tamil Nadu, who had players like W.V. Raman, S. Ramesh, V.B. Chandrasekhar, Robin Singh and S. Sharath.”
Ananthapadmanabhan says Kerala shouldn’t get complacent. “The Kerala Cricket Association is doing a fine job, but we need to think of the future,” he says. “Remember, Jalaj is 38. We need to get young spinners and technically correct batters.”