Ranji Trophy: How guests Jalaj Saxena, Aditya Sarvate worked in tandem to take Kerala to an unprecedented summit clash
Jalaj Saxena’s First-Class debut came two days after his 19th birthday in December 2005 against Kerala in his hometown Indore. He would meet them again the next year in Palakkad in his third appearance, alongside Amay Khurasiya, the only India international in the Madhya Pradesh XI then.In a twist of cricketing fate a staggering 149 matches into his red-ball career, the 38-year-old Saxena would see his dream of a Ranji Trophy final realised with Kerala on Friday – nine years after he left his home state – with head coach Khurasiya in his first season in charge of the side.
Nagpur-born Aditya Sarvate’s only two meetings against Kerala ended in victories. Part of the Vidarbha side that wiped out Kerala in their only two knockout meetings – the Ranji quarterfinal in 2016-17 and the semi-final...