Last Ranji Trophy season, none tallied more than the 950 runs made by Karnataka’s Ravichandran Smaran. With four centuries and three fifties which included a career best of 227 not out and a healthy average of 86.36, he was unfortunate not to make the India A cut for the tour of Sri Lanka. But a spot in the South Zone team for the Duleep Trophy was beyond doubt for the 23-year-old, who would be amongst the batsmen that they would be banking on in the final, starting at Chepauk on Sunday, against a strong East Zone side.

When Smaran talks there is no residue of disappointment of not making the India A side. Instead, during the off-season he speaks of developing an enormous appetite that has made him hungry to breach the 1,000-run landmark in the next Ranji season. It is what the middle-order batsman mentions when asked about the tweaks he has made to his batting. “Actually worked more on enhancing my game to ensure that the 950 runs can become close to 1,000- 1,100 runs in the next season. Just hunger for more runs and keep scoring wherever you get that opportunity,” he tells .

When Karnataka pressed the transition button, Smaran was amongst the young talents they put their faith in. His start to Ranji Trophy wasn’t smooth, and the left-hander first made headlines at the Vijay Hazare before turning his eyes on Ranji. After making 516 in his maiden season, he nearly doubled it up last season, taking Karnataka to the final. A meticulous person on and off the field, Smaran swears by the term “process”, oozing maturity beyond his age. The clichés – taking one game at a time, keeping the basics simple, having a clear head – are what he says helps him do what he does at the crease.

But it is the drive to score bucketful of runs that sets Smaran apart. It is a habit he has picked up from age-group cricket. It is a mindset that is drilled into him since he started representing Karnataka at age-group levels. Growing up watching the all-conquering Karnataka side which included the likes of KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Devdutt Padikkal – who all had a habit of pilling consistent scores – has played a part too. It is the legacy that Smaran intends to carry forward.

“These guys have come into the Test team with a huge volume of runs. So looking at them growing up, dominating the Ranji Trophy over the years gave me even more motivation to break into the Karnataka side and to replicate and carry forward the legacy. The priority right now is to break into the India A team as soon as possible,” he says.

“Watching the likes of KL and Dev (Padikkal) – he really put in the hard work for almost two years and then to come in and put up a performance, I was so happy for him. So for me as well, that is the goal. I have seen them do it and get there, so that’s why I want to get into the A team. And I feel that the only way of doing that is to score big volumes of runs,” Smaran adds.

Grinding it out

Through the course of the last two domestic seasons, beyond the runs that Smaran scored, he lists out the learning that has made him evolve as a cricketer. “To grind it out in the middle isn’t easy. Whenever I’m going to bat, I have to put my team into a very good position at the end of day’s play. And then the same continues on to the next day.

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“I feel it’s the grind out there in the middle that becomes very important. There are very good spells that are bowled during the course of the domestic season. You respect those spells, the conditions and situations, you learn a lot. There’s always going to be a phase in the game where you’re not going to get runs. How you manage to overcome that is important to get the big scores,” he says.

At the IPL, Smaran is yet to find his feet, but it is also the transition he wants to make. From domestic cricket to IPL, facing the likes of Jofra Archer cranking it up to 145kmph needed a bit of learning, no matter how many such deliveries he faced off the bowling machine.

“It was actually a new experience for me facing close to 145-150 kmph. You don’t find a lot of bowlers who bowl at that pace in the domestic circuit. But obviously, it was a good experience for me and something that I have to practise and work on.

“Because in the IPL, you will always find guys who bowl consistently at this pace. And you have to ensure that you’re finding a way to tackle them and to actually put them off and take them on. I feel it’s just a matter of time before you get adjusted to that pace and you can really take them on,” he says.