It’s a poignant coincidence that Kerala cricket’s golden hour arrived just days after the closure of Thiruvananthapuram’s eight-decades-old and storied Shanta Bakery, an institution deeply intertwined with the state’s cricketing history.

Kerala’s maiden entry into this year’s drawn Ranji Trophy final—where Vidarbha was declared winners based on a first-innings lead—marks a watershed moment. Since the state’s debut in the country's premier domestic tournament in 1957, its best performance had been a lone semi-final appearance in 2018-19. For decades, Kerala languished at the bottom of the table, often sharing the last spot with Andhra Pradesh, while other South Indian states produced cricketing stalwarts.

Isolated sparks of brilliance—like Balan Pandit’s double century against Andhra in 1959-60 or seamer Manikanta Kurup’s five-wicket haul against the formidable Hyderabad in 1970—were rare highlights.

Kerala cricket’s tragic hero, S. Sreesanth, remains the only player from the state to have represented India in all formats of the game. A vibrant presence in the national squad, the irrepressible medium pacer played a crucial role in India's victories in the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 Cricket World Cup. However, at the peak of his career, his promising journey was cut short at 30 by the IPL spot-fixing scandal, a blow many believe was unjust, and pushed into play some unremarkable innings in films and politics.

Beyond these, Kerala’s cricketing legacy was largely confined to nostalgic tales of the pioneers from Thalassery, the cradle of cricket and cakes, led by the Mambally family, who not only shaped the game in the region but also founded the iconic Shanta Bakery. Now, with this historic Ranji Trophy run, Kerala cricket, which has produced only two test players (Tinu Yohannan and Sreesanth) until now, has finally stepped out of the shadows.

Kerala’s remarkable Ranji Trophy campaign this year becomes even more significant as it played without its three most prominent national players—Sanju Samson, Sandeep Warrier and Basil Thampi. Samson, Kerala’s lone representative in India’s current T20 and ODI squads, has been a key figure in limited-overs cricket. Warrier earned a T20 cap for India against Sri Lanka in 2021, while Thampi was part of the Indian T20 squad that toured Sri Lanka in 2017, though he didn’t get a game.

Neither did the current Kerala Ranji team get the services of the state's two players picked up for IPL 2025 besides Samson (Rajasthan........

© Mathrubhumi English