CHENNAI: When Jammu and Kashmir left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq dismissed Aditya Sarwate in the 84th over, Kerala, with only four wickets remaining, had to see off more than 40 overs to draw their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal tie in Pune on Wednesday. The equation was clear. Thanks to their one-run first innings lead, Kerala needed a draw while J&K had to secure a win to progress to the semifinals.
It was then the 30-year-old Mohammed Azharuddeen joined Salman Nizar, 27, in the middle. A long partnership was the need of the hour and who else was better suited for the job than the duo of Azharuddeen and Nizar, whose long association dates back to 2011 when they first met at the now defunct KCA Elite Academy in Kochi.
The two grinded out for more than 42 overs to deny their opponents an outright win and help Kerala into their only second semifinal of the premier domestic tournament. In the process, Nizar (44 off 162 balls) and Azhar (118-ball 67) also stitched together an unbroken 115-run partnership for the seventh wicket. The last time Kerala played in a Ranji semifinal was in 2018-19 when they lost the match to the eventual champions Vidarbha.
Bijumon N, who was in-charge of the Elite Academy in 2011, never had an iota of doubt on the potential of his wards — Nizar and Azhar — and says it's good to see them becoming saviours of the state team after so many years. "Azhar joined Kottayam academy while Salman was selected for Kochi in 2009. In 2011, they came together to be a part of the Elite Academy in its inaugural year in Kochi. We had a talented bunch of budding cricketers then and I am really proud to see them representing the state and also helping the team to enter the semifinal," Bijumon, who has now joined Coaching Beyond in Odisha, told this daily.
Nizar and Azhar made their Ranji debut in 2015 though a season apart but the latter leaped ahead with blitzkrieg knocks in T20s that eventually landed him an IPL contract. The duo blew hot and cold in first-class cricket but managed to stay in contention even 10 years later with useful contributions, even though it was sporadic.
However, the ongoing Ranji season has turned out to be a breakout one for Nizar as he first slammed his maiden first-class century against Bihar in the league stage before hitting an unbeaten 112 and adding 81 runs with Basil Thampi (15) for the 10th wicket against J&K to give his side a single-run lead which proved decisive in the end.
"I have always felt Nizar didn't get enough opportunities in the past. This season he not only got the opportunities he deserved but he also made full use of them. He is an all-format player and even led Kerala in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. If given an opportunity, he can prove to be an utility player in the IPL as well," added Bijumon.
Nizar was adjudged Player of the Match for his two unbeaten knocks. "We believed in ourselves and took it (partnership) through the blocks of 10 runs each. J&K bowlers made our task tough. It was a similar approach we had adopted in the first innings," said Nizar during the presentation ceremony.
Hopefully, the partnership continues to prosper when Kerala take on Gujarat in the first semifinal scheduled to be held in Ahmedabad from February 17 to 21.
Brief scores: J& K 280 & 399/9 decl drew with Kerala 281 & 295/6 in 126 overs (Salman Nizar 44 n.o, Mohammed Azharuddeen 67 n.o, Sachin Baby 48, Akshay Chandran 48; Sahil Lotra 2/50).
Semifinal line-up (Feb 17-21): Kerala vs Gujarat, Ahmedabad; Vidarbha vs Mumbai, Nagpur