Kerala’s progress has been remarkable: Vasu

Former cricketer D. Vasu reflects on Kerala's journey to the Ranji Trophy final, highlighting the team's progress and potential advantage.

When Kerala stunned Tamil Nadu in a South Zone Ranji Trophy match at Palakkad in 1994-95, D. Vasu was part of the strong visiting side. The win helped Kerala qualify for the knock-out stage of the Ranji Trophy for the first time.

Vasu now has reasons to feel happy and proud about Kerala cricket’s biggest success – a place in the Ranji Trophy final.

He is now the director of cricket at Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) High Performance Centre. He is looking forward to the team’s Ranji Trophy final against Vidarbha, which starts at Nagpur on Wednesday.

“I think Kerala could have the edge in the final as they have the experience of playing in different types of conditions,” Vasu told The Hindu over the phone from Chennai. “The team has been playing with a lot of confidence this year, and they have trained hard too; I had organised sessions for the bowlers before the start of the season, bringing in coaches like B. Arun and M. Venkataramana before Amay Khurasia joined as the head coach and worked with the batters.”

Vasu said the progress Kerala has made has been remarkable. “In my playing days, Kerala had good spinners, but I could not have imagined they would go on to become a Ranji Trophy finalist,” the former Tamil Nadu coach said. “There was no infrastructure back then in Kerala. The KCA has done the right thing by building their own stadia all over the State. Starting the T20 league (KCL) has also helped Kerala cricket greatly.”

Vasu has been working with coaches in Kerala, too. “I have noticed many former Kerala players, some of whom are good coaches, have gone to the Gulf countries to start academies or have become commentators,” he said. “I think Kerala cricket needs their services as coaches.”