Kerala spinner Akshay makes a memorable debut in the Ranji Trophy
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Akshay KC, 21 years of age, was tearing it up in the C K Nayudu Trophy U-23 national championship for Kerala at the KCA Cricket Stadium in Krishnagiri, Wayanad when he got the call-up to the senior state team.
He had impressed the Kerala selectors bagging a handful of wickets on a very flat track with the U-23s and when the opportunity came to make a mark with the seniors, he did not let it pass.
Akshay was drafted into the first eleven ahead of the game against Jammu and Kashmir and made sure that head coach Dav Whatmore's trust in him wasn't misplaced scalping four wickets in the first innings.
Bowling 14 overs, the Kozhikode-born cricketer finished with bowling figures of 4/37 as J&K were bundled out for 173, 46 short of Kerala's first innings score.
And on Friday, Akshay again picked up a couple -- of Bandeep Singh and Ram Dayal -- in the second innings as Kerala are closing in on a third win from four matches of the Ranji Trophy season to make the left-arm spinner's first-class debut a memorable occasion.
"After bowling on a batting wicket like that at Wayanad last month, I am very lucky to get a wicket that assisted spinners for my Ranji Trophy debut," said the Kozhikode lad on Friday.
Akshay who started receiving training in cricket at the age of 13 had his career launched after being selected for the KCA academy at 16. He has been at the Thiruvananthapuram-based academy for more than four years and is one of the earliest in a crop of left-arm spinners from the state that includes his current teammate Sijomon Joseph who picked up five wickets in the match.
"When we started out, Kerala was known for its spinning tracks and left-arm spinners were a rarity. Batsmen had little idea how to face them. I think that is why we have quite a few left-arm spinners in the Kerala side now," said Akshay. Though his first outing with the Kerala side, Akshay said he has been welcomed to the squad by the senior players and staff alike.
"Everyone has helped me settle in. And I have to thank the coach Whatmore. He is someone who always beams positivity. He doesn't do a postmortem of your performances to find your faults and always talks about the positives in your game," said Akshay of the former Australian batsman.
With Jammu and Kashmir needing another 182 runs to win with only three wickets in hand, Kerala will be looking to register a third win of the season.
"We really want to get into the knockouts this time. We have two more matches left -- against a strong Saurashtra at home and an away fixture against Haryana -- both of which we will look to win," said Akshay.