CHENNAI: Nine-hundred and fifty runs. That is the amount of runs Karnataka's R Smaran amassed in the recently concluded Ranji season where his team went down to J&K in the final. After a stellar season for his state, the youngster is now keen to continue the momentum into the IPL season where he will turn up for Sunrisers Hyderabad. He was part of the team last year but the stint was cut short due to injury.
Smaran's red-ball prowess is well documented, especially over the last 12 months as he emerged as the brightest star for the state. However, he has up-skilled himself massively in limited overs format as well. His first white-ball tournament — the 2024-25 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy season — was the starting point. Coming on the back of a lean patch in the Ranji Trophy that year, Smaran had a point to prove. He did so with a brisk 21-ball 49 against Gujarat, which had the likes of Axar Patel. Although that knock went in vain as Karnataka lost by 48 runs, Smaran felt that gave him the all-important confidence boost. “I think it was just about me hitting the ball well. I got a fifty against Tripura earlier in the same tournament. I think it was just a mental phase of me knowing that I am hitting the ball well. And it's just a matter of time before I convert my shots into a big 100. (It was also) the feel-good factor and the confidence heading into a game knowing that you are batting well and things will come your way,” Smaran recalled in a chat with this daily.
That confidence then flowed well into the title-winning campaign at the Vijay Hazare Trophy, where the Bengaluru lad scored a match-winning ton in the final against Vidarbha. But coming into the second season after scoring a double-ton and a ton in the last two games of his first Ranji Trophy season, Smaran had to grow in different facets of his game.
“I think for me, the work starts in the off-season as well with my coach. I liked batting longer in the off-season and try to work on certain areas that bowlers may target during the season. I also ensured that I am at least 80 per cent or 90 per cent equipped to handle whatever is thrown at me during the season, especially in red ball. So a lot of open net sessions and a lot of throw-downs I emphasised on with different kinds of balls. With a new ball, with an older ball, with a ball one side scratched and the other side reversing,” the 22-year-old southpaw said.
That off-season grind has helped shine across formats. If having the likes of Karun Nair and KL Rahul allowed him to settle in the red ball side, Smaran was able to take that confidence into the limited-overs. In the 2025/26 SMAT, Smaran was Karnataka’s top-scorer with 319 runs, averaging 63.80. “I think usually right from the beginning, to be an all-format player was my main goal and it is currently still my main goal to represent the country in all three formats. But yes, I think in my T20 game, I still have a lot of things to work on. Because the way T20 games are moving forward, it is already so fast-paced. where 180, 200 or even 210s are not safe scores. So going after the bowlers from ball one is something that I want to work on. Because I feel I am a kind of a guy who sometimes takes some time out there in the middle in the beginning. That is one aspect of my game that I would like to work on during this time at SRH is to start putting pressure on the bowlers from ball one."
But that process, he says, may not come easily, as he needs to adapt. “You always cannot keep hitting sixes and always bat with an extremely high strike rate. There are always times where you have to modulate your innings and adapt to the situation in case the wicket has fallen early. But yes, that is something that I have always had, that is taking the game deep and trying to finish off. But like any other format of the game, T20 also requires a lot of repetition and a lot of practice needed for you to be confident that you can go after the bowler from ball one. So I think, like any other batter or like any other cricketer, I would also want to put in that work during this time before the IPL starts so that I am confident enough that I have both games. That is to take the game deep in case there is a collapse to bat deep and in the other scenario, if things are going well to take on the bowlers from ball one. So in terms of drills, I am sure that I have to speak to my coaches at SRH as well as my personal coach as to how I can adapt and how I can go about things to dominate the bowlers right from the first ball. So that is something that I would probably do in this camp at SRH,” he explained.
Though SRH have the likes of Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan, Smaran knows he will be ready as and when an opportunity comes along in the next two months. The first of them, may not come at a better place than the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, when SRH take on RCB in the opener on March 28.
