NAGPUR
Even earlier than Kerala established itself as a crew to be careful for in the Ranji Trophy, it had a legacy in tempo bowling. Men like Tinu Yohannan, S. Sreesanth, Sandeep Warrier, Basil Thampi, Ok.M. Asif, Prasanth Parameswaran and Prasanth Chandran had caught the attention with their pace or swing.
Three years in the past, a 16-year-old appeared poised to maintain the custom ahead. And Eden Apple Tom had a dream debut, actually: he took a wicket together with his first ball in First Class cricket. He had visualised it, he advised this correspondent at Rajkot back in 2022, after having the Meghalaya opener Kishan Lyngdo caught at slip.
But a stress fracture on his back stored him away from cricket for a whole season. He is back taking part in the Ranji Trophy, although. And he is wanting good.
He got here up with an important spell in opposition to Vidarbha on the second day of the Ranji Trophy last on the VCA Stadium right here on Thursday. He dismissed a person who got here to this match after scoring 933 runs: Yash Rathod was undone by a ball that swung away.
Sony Cheruvathur, who coached him from his youth, is delighted Tom has returned to the senior Kerala crew. “He is a special talent, one of the best I have come across,” Sony advised The Hindu from Dubai, the place Eden used to coach at his academy. “He can go a long way.”
He is deceptively fast, has a very good bouncer and can hassle the batter together with his angles, too. And he can get higher: he is simply 19.
Kerala cricket must deal with him with care.
Published – February 27, 2025 09:12 pm IST
