Just over 10 days in the past, when the Kerala Ranji Trophy squad was introduced, one title captured the eye of cricket followers throughout the nation. After all, if one is known as Edhen Apple Tom, a traditional from the secure of distinctive Kerala names, one would turn into the speak of the city earlier than bowling a single ball in first-class cricket.
But as Kerala notched up an innings-and-166-run win towards Meghalaya, Edhen ensured that everybody will now speak about his bowling, not his title.
— KCA (@KCAcricket) February 19, 2022
First-ball wickets in each innings, six wickets general (4/41 & 2/30) and player-of-the-match award on debut, the 16-year-old right-arm pacer has begun his profession spectacularly.
“I’ve obtained a great begin to my profession. It has been a dreamy few days for me. But I do know that is only a begin. The second match is towards way more formidable opponents, Gujarat. I want to do higher towards them and hold performing,” Edhen instructed indianexpress.com from Rajkot.
In each innings, Edhen compelled the batsmen – Kishan Lyngdhoh and D Ravi Teja – to nick to slips off the very first ball he bowled.
The first-ball wickets, Edhen says, weren’t completely all the way down to luck. “It was not completely sudden. I had deliberate to bowl full and obtained the sting each occasions,” he mentioned.
Edhen’s efficiency justified Kerala coach Tinu Yohannan’s name to incorporate the pacer within the squad after seeing his bowling within the nets in the course of the preparatory camp in Alappuzha forward of the Ranji Trophy.
“We took him seeing his potential and everyone, from the association to the team management, stood behind that decision, and it paid off. Here (in Rajkot), the conditions and the pitch were favorable to him. It is a good start obviously, but tougher opponents and conditions will come up before him. What we expect from him is consistency,” mentioned Yohannan.
Yohannan charges the simplicity of Edhen’s motion as his largest energy. “He has obtained a quite simple, simple motion. And his thoughts shouldn’t be cluttered whereas bowling as he’s not pondering an excessive amount of. He has obtained first rate pace and good seam place, and above all, could be very correct,” mentioned Yohannan.
speedy progress
Edhen, who moved alongside together with his father from Dubai to Thiruvananthapuram in 2018 to pursue cricket, has improved by leaps and bounds within the final two years, says long-term mentor and former Kerala captain Sony Cheruvathur.
“Edhen stayed very close to the Love All Sports Academy and worked really hard on his game with coach Karthik Rajan and trainer Shanavas. Even when travel restrictions were there, he would come for practice and got fitter and stronger. That is showing in his game now,” mentioned Cheruvathur.
Cheruvathur coached Edhen from the age of eight at his academy in Dubai and has seen his progress up shut.
“Initially when I saw him, he was a bowler who bowled off the wrong foot. But gradually, that changed. Now, he keeps it simple. His action may not look explosive but his transfer of weight is very good and he has got a very natural in-swing at this young age. Moreover, he puts an effort into learning new things,” mentioned Cheruvathur who additionally sees a possible allrounder in Edhen.
It was his efficiency within the U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy (16 wickets) that opened the door to the Kerala nets for Edhen. He took 5 wickets towards Gujarat in his first-ever sport for Kerala in age-group cricket. Now, he’ll look to repeat that efficiency towards the senior Gujarat group in Kerala’s subsequent Ranji Trophy sport to show that he’s no one-match marvel.
Brief scores (Elite Group A):
Meghalaya 148 (Punit Bisht 93; Edhen Apple Tom 4/41, U Manukrishnan 3/34, S Sreesanth 2/40) & 191 (Chirag Khurana 75, Dippu Sangma 55 not out; Basil Thampi 4/43, Jalaj Saxena 3/28) , Edhen Apple Tom 2/30) misplaced to Kerala 505/9 dec (P Rahul 147, Rohan Kunnummal 147, Vatsal Govind 106 not out, Sachin Baby 56; Aryan Bora 3/105, Chirag Khurana 3/130) by an innings and 166 runs.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
