Ravichandran Smaran: The Nandi Hills Calm Behind Karnataka’s Ranji Surge

The picturesque Nandi Hills, a little over an hour’s drive from Bengaluru, stands at around 1,500 metres above sea level. Somehow, the cool and pleasant weather, alongside the height of the hills, comes to mind while watching Karnataka’s promising batter, Ravichandran Smaran.

Consider the Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Mumbai to gauge the left-hander’s unflappable temperament. By the time KL Rahul was dismissed, Smaran had raced to 65 off just 82 deliveries. Karnataka then lost a couple more wickets and slipped to 285 for 6. With about 40 more runs needed to cross the line, the question was: what would be the young batter’s approach? Especially with Mumbai spreading the field for him.

The southpaw smartly looked to pinch singles and farm the strike. Even when Mumbai’s pacers tested him with the short ball, Smaran’s only aim was to keep the pull along the ground and rotate the strike. It helped that Vidyadhar Patil, the lower-order batter, used the long handle to good effect and collected boundaries. But that innings revealed enough about Smaran’s batting acumen, his ability to play the cat-and-mouse game.

With Rahul at the other end, he was ready to unveil the full repertoire of his strokes, including the trademark punchy drive down the ground. Once quick wickets fell, he read Mumbai’s ploy of tempting him into the big shot and effectively checkmated them. No wonder he currently sits atop the batting charts in the 2025–26 Ranji Trophy with 950 runs.

Last year too, it was his hundred that took Karnataka to safer waters against Haryana in the Ranji Trophy. In the preceding Vijay Hazare Trophy final, his composure shone just as brightly. At one stage, Karnataka were 67 for 3 against Vidarbha in the summit clash, only to finish with a mammoth 348. The catalyst? A classical and calculated hundred from Smaran.

In this context, Zabiullah, his childhood coach, shares an anecdote from the Vijay Merchant Trophy. “In those days, the Vijay Merchant Trophy was played zone-wise; now it is an all-India competition. In the South Zone, Andhra were the favourites. Either Tamil Nadu or Karnataka would qualify alongside them. He was the captain at the time. The first game was in Dindigul against Tamil Nadu. In that match, Karnataka lost the lead.

“Then came a do-or-die game against Andhra. They were one of the best junior teams, and Karnataka needed the lead or at least to survive. He played an innings in which he faced more than 300 deliveries, taking the team to a draw. He guided them to the knockouts, and they won the pre-quarter-final. When he was playing against Jharkhand in the quarter-final, he received a call from the Karnataka Under-19 set-up. Though it was a promotion, he was downcast because he was leaving the team. He had prepared to lift the trophy. In fact, he asked the coach, Sunil Shankar, whether he could stay back and play there.”

The above anecdote encapsulates how Smaran always wants to be involved in the contest. It also explains why the image of Nandi Hills surfaces while recalling his calm countenance.

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