Rohan Prem happy with his form

Rohan Prem has struck a purple patch with the bat for Kerala in this season’s Ranji Trophy. The 29-year-old left-hander from Thiruvananthapuram struck two centuries, including a maiden double hundred, and two fifties to carry the Kerala batting on his shoulders.

The early season flourish saw Rohan score 460 runs, which is second only to Mumbai’s Shreyas Iyer, in the Ranji Trophy this season. Rohan also reached an important milestone in his career as he crossed 3000 runs in Ranji Trophy and there have only been three others from Kerala — Sunil Oasis, Sreekumar Nair and V.A.Jagadeesh — who have reached the milestone before him. The century against Services was his ninth and Rohan heads the list of century-makers from Kerala.

Hard work pays off

A veteran of 10 seasons in the Ranji Trophy after making his debut as an 18-year-old, Rohan is happy that the hard work he did during the off season has paid off. “I am enjoying my game and happy with my form. I had worked on a few things during off season with my coach like polishing my strokes and fine tuning my technique. I am happy that it has worked well for me during matches,” said Rohan who is in Thiruvananthapuram on a short break before the next match against Tripura in Perinthalmanna.

Rohan Prem’s under-rated off-spin bowling has turned out to be a potent weapon for Kerala this season. Rohan picked up his career best figures against Services (four for 44) but more importantly it enabled Kerala to squeeze out a narrow first innings lead. “I enjoyed the spell against Services. The match was tantalisingly poised when I came on and I took the crucial wicket of M. Khalid who had defied our attack for more than three hours. I was thrilled as I was able to contribute with the ball. I am now working more on my bowling hoping to bowl long spells.

“Earlier, I used to bowl mostly in the shorter formats. With the emphasis now on medium pacers, I give an extra option to my captain. I have only enjoyed the added responsibility,” said the former India under-19 player.

A former captain, Rohan said that Kerala despite the reverse against Jharkhand at home was still capable of qualifying for the elite group. “We have a good team under Sanju. The good thing is that we have done well in our away matches this season. Now it is important for us to score maximum points at home,” he said.