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Carrying on from his overnight start alongside Baby, Azharuddeen (149 not out) dictated the mind games on the pitch, even conquering his own aggressive impulses while at it. (Credit: express Photo by Lalith Kalidas)Even as the hapless Gujarat fielders dished out colourful conversations to try and break Kerala’s resolve during another day of marathon batting, the two most happening addas of the day took place inside the restaurant hall of the Narendra Modi Stadium post-play in the evening.
Kerala coach Amay Khurasiya enquired about the formulating powdery patch outside the left-hander’s off-stump at one end with his trusted spin lieutenant Aditya Sarwate who had helped centurion Mohammed Azharuddeen to see off the day as Kerala added 212 runs to their overnight score with negligible shift in scoring intent. The idea of ‘time and turn’ dominated the discussion as Kerala extended the slow-cooking process to 177 overs, entering stumps at 418 for seven.
The coach’s words to Sarwate revolved around the shaky patch, which would in due course, become vital to Kerala’s bowling plans led by the left-armer and off-spinner Jalaj Saxena against a Gujarat line-up crammed by four southpaws in the top order.
While Khurasiya and Sarwate exchanged plans in one corner, Kerala skipper Sachin Baby approached the Kathi roll counter with a clever question wrapped up deftly in his pocket. After setting up the innings with his overnight 69 in 193 balls, Baby only lasted two deliveries in the morning before poking hard at Arzan Nagwaswalla’s late away-shaping delivery to first-slip. Baby surely had to have another moment to cap off a long day and ensure everything was under control.
Catching up with Gujarat spinner Siddharth Desai who ran another pale day on the field, Baby quizzed the 24-year-old on his thoughts on the pitch. “What is the behaviour of the wicket like? Wasn’t it turning at all?” questioned Baby. “It’s a slow turner,” came the response from Gujarat’s highest wicket-taker, eyes firmly on the paneer rolls and not the seasoned Kerala pro.
Azharuddeen would not quite agree with Desai after he remained the least effective spinner on the pitch — Gujarat captain Chintan Gaja only summoned him five minutes before lunch on Tuesday. With Desai’s backup left-armer Vishal Jayswal extracting sharp turn and lift from odd balls in the evening, Kerala’s tempestuous wicket-keeper said that “every run tomorrow is going to tire their minds and body.”
Carrying on from his overnight start alongside Baby, Azharuddeen (149 not out) dictated the mind games on the pitch, even conquering his own aggressive impulses while at it.
“There are times when the hand naturally goes for a swing but the coach’s sound instructions have held it all back. Playing to his advice and guidance is all that I have been trying to do here and throughout the season that has helped this time on the whole,” said Azhar after breaking a duck of seven years since his first Ranji Trophy century to etch another in a pivotal semifinal setting.
The lull in between saw him out of the red-ball side for two years post Covid-19. Poor outings in the season-opening white-ball tournaments meant the management’s patience ran out before the Ranji campaigns then, he candidly admitted.
A natural top-order bat, Azharuddeen’s slide to a No. 6 keeper-bat role this year has shot up his red-ball fortunes. Sharing the space behind Fortress Baby with his old-time buddy Salman Nizar (52), the pair have set up another lower-order bastion that is defining Kerala’s unique Ranji campaign. Even as Nagwaswalla and the Gujarat dugout roared in delight after snapping Baby second ball, the pressure was adroitly quelled by the North Kerala bonhomie that lasted 368 deliveries for 149 runs.
Gaja’s men trimmed from roars to hoots and chirps through the afternoon as the sixth-wicket pair ransacked 87 runs in the first session before slowing down to 60 in the next two hours, hoarding 30 more overs.
“There was a lot of colourful sledging going on. The time to react to all that is long gone. I only find them all to be so hilarious these days. But there is a special feeling and fun you get seeing the frustration of the opposition when they go wicketless for so long,” the 30-year-old Azharuddeen reflects with a chuckle.
Seizing the opportunity of a dropped catch at first slip and Gujarat’s sloppy lapses in missing out on two lbw counts without opting for the DRS, Azharuddeen maintained the metronomic rhythm of his longest First-Class innings with a sturdy defence and an uncluttered mind. Unlike his famous Hyderabadi namesake’s leg-side dexterity, “Azhar Jr.” maintained a regular love for the off-side, carving the extra cover to point region with supple front and back-footed drives.
Azharuddeen credits the much “involved” Khurasiya’s timely interventions behind Kerala’s cohesive defence. “He sends in inputs through notes at the right time from the dugout on the field where he remains throughout the day,” says Azhar, stressing that the frequent “paper-written notes leave longer images and impressions” in the mind.
With the pitch beginning to offer continual turn, Azharuddeen said the attritional targets to burn out more overs will continue with him and Sarwate poised to return on day three. “The target was to exhaust as many overs as possible and not bat quickly to get to 400 or something in a five-day game. Getting to 500 is the plan and that will begin to play a lot on their mind and body. We have far more experienced spinners in Jalaj and Sarwate to handle the job from there,” he said with apt clarity.
Brief Scores: Kerala 418 for seven in 177 overs (Md Azharuddeen 149 batting, Sachin Baby 69, Arzan Nagwaswalla 3-64) vs Gujarat
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