KOCHI: With the Indian Premier League euphoria having died down all too quickly, cricket has perhaps been the last thing on the minds of Kochiites this season.Yet Kochi is geared up for another season of cricket. Unlike the frenzy that accompanied the glamourous T-20 event earlier this year, the three Ranji Trophy matches scheduled at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium within the next 30 days have arrived almost unnoticed.Kerala, having drawn their first Plate League game away to Vidharbha at Nagpur last week, step on field against Services on Thursday for their first home match of the season.Captained by in-form opener V A Jagadeesh, the Kerala team has been busy training at the venue for the last couple of days while the Services team led by Yashpal Singh had a strenuous session on Wednesday.S Sreesanth, Raiphi Vincent Gomez, Prashanth Parameshwaran and P Prashant, who played for the now terminated Kochi Tuskers Kerala, along with Yashpal, return to their ‘home’ venue after a turbulent period of six months.The J N Stadium hosts Tripura from November 17 to 20 and Andhra Pradesh from November 29 to December 2.Coaches and formers players have always stressed that more than the IPL, Kerala’s future lay in hosting longer versions of cricket, like the Ranji Trophy matches, with good facilities, backed by good preparation for the home team.“The IPL is beneficial in popularising the game but for building up quality Ranji Trophy is the only way,” said former Duleep Trophy player and renowned coach P Balachandran. “It is good that three of our home matches this season are being played at the J N Stadium. Otherwise, it would have become a very dull year for cricket here.” Meanwhi l e Ke rala Cr i cke t Association secretary T C Mathew told Express that the association was trying to provide the best of facilities to the players.“The Ranji team is now training at such a good venue on good wickets,” Mathew said. “It is important that youngsters get to play on proper outfields on standard-sized grounds. In the past, there have been instances of our players struggling to judge the ball while attempting to take catches when playing on big outfields away from home. Things are changing and our team has also improved a lot in its approach and outlook. We need to keep playing a lot and then the quality will also pick up.” Arrangements have also been made to bring the KCA academy boy s t o watch the game, he added. Entry to the stadium is free for the public too.
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