Kerala, who lead the group by 13 points, will be looking to keep their momentum up against Goa, who are yet to win the tournament overall.
It was a fresh start for Kerala when he won the 4th round match of the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament at KCA-St. Xavier’s College Grounds on Tuesday.
In the absence of Sanju Samson, he was forced to be promoted to vice-captain Sijomon Joseph, who would lead the team against Goa, and opening pitcher Rohan His Kunnammal was given additional responsibilities as vice-captain. The team will miss Samson as batsman and captain, but Kerala coach Tinu Yohannan wants them to take on more responsibility and put them under pressure.
The manager also believes in creating the right atmosphere for players to develop and has supported young people. “We will play to our strengths. There are no easy opponents at this level and we will not underestimate Gore. But we must play consistently good cricket over the next four days. We will miss Sanju, but it’s up to the players to seize the opportunity and perform,” Johannan said.
Kerala, who are group leaders with 13 points, are looking to keep their momentum going against Goa, who have yet to win the tournament. Kerala’s top batsman has shown consistency this season. Sachinbaby hit the purple spot this season, and veteran Rohanprem contributed to his third at bat. Openers Kunnummal and P. Rahul had a good run against Chhattisgarh. The spin trio of Jalaj Saxena, Vaisakh Chandran and Joseph also make big appearances in this match. Goa captain Darshan Mishal is confident the team has enough firepower to take on the hosts.
“Wickets deliver results and support spins. We have good off-spinners and hope they will do the job for us. Hitters Suyash Prabhudesai and Siddesh Rudd is in good shape and personally I am happy with the results of this season. We have players for every condition. We know Sanju isn’t here, and he tries to exploit Kerala’s middle-tier weakness. Jalaj Saxena has been performing well for Kerala this season and if we can neutralize his threat, we will be able to control the match,” Mishal said.