“He had the clarity that I will break open the doors, not just knock on the doors,” Syed Zabiullah said to RevSportz. Zabiullah, who happens to be Ravichandran Smaran’s childhood coach, was referring to a time when his ward had modest returns with the bat. While flipping through the Karnataka batter’s impressive run-scoring efforts over the last few months, those words from his coach flash in the mind like a bulb.
Smaran, the left-hand batter, has indeed walked the talk, scoring 433 runs in the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy followed by a couple of hundreds in the Ranji Trophy. In India’s premier first-class competition, he showcased his mental aptitude to absorb the pressure. To illustrate the point, in the Haryana-Karnataka game, he shepherded his state to a draw after they had found themselves in a precarious position.
He showcased one more trait in Karnataka’s encounter against Punjab – The ability to convert a start into a big score. After Karnataka had snuffed out Punjab for a paltry score, the stage was set for Smaran’s talent to burn bright. He didn’t disappoint, ending up with a double-ton. Incidentally, his maiden first-class century itself turned out to be a double.
“My first hundred, felt really special to get it at home, at the Chinnaswamy Stadium,” he noted. “The situation after our five games of Ranji Trophy was such that we needed to win both the matches with a bonus point. After getting Punjab all out for 55, I knew that it was only a one-innings game because we had to get the bonus point. A double-hundred was never in my mind. I just wanted to bat and bat. I am glad that I got my hundred. Once I got my hundred, I knew that I could convert it into a big score.
“The plan (in Karnataka’s game versus Haryana) when the fourth innings started, was to bat till tea. So that it would give us a better chance of closing down the game and not give Haryana any chance of chasing down whatever total we would set as a target. The wicket was good to bat, it was just keeping slightly low. I tried to spend as much time as possible at the crease, and didn’t worry about the runs. Before I knew it, I was batting on 70-80. More than getting a hundred, it was about spending time at the crease and not giving them a chance to bat again was pleasing.”
Let’s zoom the microscope a little further on his game-changing hands in the just-concluded 50-over Vijay Hazare tournament, to sift more evidence about his pressure-handling skills. In the semifinal versus Haryana, he walked out to bat with Karnataka’s score reading 66 for 2, in a chase of 238. With the deck offering something for the spinners, the Haryana camp would have believed they could eke out a memorable victory. But Smaran and Devdutt Padikkal had other ideas as the duo stitched a game-breaking alliance.
In the summit clash against Vidarbha, Karnataka were batting first and had lost early wickets. This time around, in batting-friendly conditions, it was about steering Karnataka to a massive total. In the company of K Shrijith and Abhinav Manohar, he did just that. “I had a very experienced batsman at the other end in Devdutt, who had just come back from Australia,” said Smaran. “So, he was telling me a lot in terms of how the wicket was playing and what shots were on. I felt that it was a matter of just one partnership between him and me to take the team through.
“I again looked to spend some time out in the middle because the target was not that high. I knew that once I got going, I could accelerate and get the team through,” he told. “It was a little slow, there wasn’t much bounce in that wicket. So, we knew there were very limited shots on that wicket. (It was more) about playing on the front foot, in the V towards long-off and long-on. Playing with the spin. The cut shot was not on that wicket because of the low bounce.
“Again, about the final, I think we were in a slightly tricky spot – 65 or 67 for 3. But it was a very good wicket to bat, I knew that we need to get a good total to defend. It was a very important partnership between me and Shrijith. And even with Abhinav Manohar right at the end to get to the total which we got to. It was a special moment getting a hundred in the final. But more than that, it was a nice feeling to get the trophy back to Karnataka after five years. We got greeted at the airport, once we came back to Bengaluru. Huge thanks to KSCA for showing up at the airport. They flowered us with garlands.”
There is another hidden virtue in Smaran – His involvement and single-minded focus in any activity that he partakes in. His mentor says, “I was in search of characters, who can display that they are fighters on the field. A few days after Smaran had joined us, we had one tournament. He really fielded well. I kept on promoting him. Even though he wasn’t (always) in the playing XI, he was so active – filling the water bottles. Outside the boundary line, it used to feel that (imitating others) he was stopping or catching the ball. That is something that attracted me, that there is something in him.”
Zabiullah shares one more anecdote from his pupil’s junior days. The stage seemed set for Smaran to lead Karnataka to a triumph in the Vijay Merchant Trophy. But there was a small twist in the tale. “Those days, Vijay Merchant Trophy was zone-wise, now it is all-India. Basically, in the South Zone, Andhra were the favourites. Either Tamil Nadu or Karnataka used to qualify along with them. He was the captain at that time. The first game was in Dindigul, against Tamil Nadu. In that particular game, Karnataka lost the lead.
“Then, it was a do-or-die game against Andhra. They are one of the best teams at the junior level, and you had to get the lead or somehow survive. He played a knock where he faced 300-plus balls, taking the team to a draw. He took the team to the knockouts, and they won the pre-quarters. When he was playing against Jharkhand in the quarter-final, he got a call from the Karnataka Under-19 (set-up). Though he got the promotion, he was down because he was leaving the team. He had done all the preparation to lift the trophy. In fact, he asked the coach, Sunil Shankar, ‘Whether I can stay back and play here.'”
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🚨EXCLUSIVE🚨
Having overcome the disappointment of missing out on a place in the U-19 World Cup in 2022, Ravichandran Smaran is making up for lost time, across formats, with Karnataka.@Fancricket12 @ShrachiSports #RanjiTrophy
Full Video Link: https://t.co/kVx0iLgUCm pic.twitter.com/CAlZgtnO53
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) February 7, 2025
Despite being a prodigy, Smaran has also had his setbacks. Just pore through all the scorecards from the 2022 Under-19 World Cup, and one player’s name is missing. Here is what the elegant batter had to say on how he upskilled his game and whittled his way out of wilderness. “I wasn’t picked for the Under-19 World Cup,” he said. “I felt disheartened that I couldn’t be picked for that squad. I had to put things in perspective, where I had to improve in my game? I worked with a coach back in Bengaluru. I immediately started hitting the nets.
“Like any sportsperson, we would look to get stronger at the gym. So, gym is one thing that I worked on during that period. Technique-wise, I feel I have got my bat-lift down a little compared to before. I had a high bat-lift before, I felt that I was chasing a lot of deliveries outside off before. Mental aspect, I just worked on staying strong, staying level-headed while playing. The next season, I got a lot of runs in the Karnataka First Division League. I am glad that it paid off.”
After a rather disappointing 2023 Maharaja trophy where he compiled 236 runs, Smaran turned it around in the next season, accruing close to 450 runs. In that tournament, while playing for Gulbarga Mystics against Mysuru Warriors, his side were in dire straits at 60 for 4. However, Smaran stitched timely alliances with the lower order and steered his side past the target of 197.
“We were chasing [around] 200-odd runs,” he said. “And we had lost a quick couple of wickets. To chase that kind of a total, especially in a last-ball finish, is something that everyone would ask for. More than that, I was glad that we could get back to winning ways. We had won the first game but lost the next two. That hundred was just the icing on the cake.”
There is one more missing link to be identified while profiling the left-hand batter. Why and when did he take up the game of cricket? “I started my cricketing journey in the layout I stay in now, that is in JP Nagar,” he said. “At the age of 8, my mom put me in a local academy in the layout. It just started from there.
“There was this tournament called VCA Cup, played in Jayanagar. There were many good teams in and around Bengaluru participating in it. In the first edition of the tournament, we had lost in the final. In the next edition, the whole team was determined to win that tournament, all of us were excited to play under lights. Lifting the trophy with my teammates, coach and all… a very fond memory.”
His childhood coach too quipped, “The first time he came was with his mother. And it was later on said that as he was troubling a lot at home, his mother got him into cricket, so that he can actively participate in one sport. The energy was so much that even after two hours of practice, batting, bowling, fielding, even fitness sometimes, he still used to play with other friends at the ground, never wanting to go home. With streetlights turned on, he was the last one to go home.”
So, is Smaran destined for bigger things? What about playing in the IPL? Or maybe even wearing national colours? For starters, his batting has been blessed with generous gifts. But he still has a long way to go to reach such heights. His coach has coined a punchline that could help his protege to navigate high expectations.
“As humans, we would all have expectations after putting in effort, time and preparations,” said Zabiullah. “I also had a lot of expectations. Then we realised that the more we expect, the more pressure is on us. So, one mental aspect we added is – no more expectations. Something good comes in life, let us enjoy it. If something goes wrong, we will believe it is not ours.
“After coming back from the Ranji Trophy season, for the past five days, he has not touched the bat. Yes, when it is time to work hard, just work hard. When it is time to relax, just relax.”
With Karnataka out of the reckoning in the Ranji Trophy, it is perhaps time for Smaran to indulge in his hobbies. “I like to play basketball, a bit of video games as well,” he said. “Apart from that, I am a huge nature enthusiast. I like to go to wildlife sanctuaries. I like trekking as well.”
What is in store for Smaran? It is very hard to predict. But when his willow meets the leather, the sweet sound of his well-timed shots has a ring of class and maturity attached to it. As it happens, one of his role models was also associated with a touch of pure and pristine batting – Kumar Sangakkara.
