India’s batting riches are growing at a rapid pace. Karnataka's new all-format star may soon be added to that list.
When Adam Zampa was replaced by the little-known Ravichandran Smaran for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in this year's IPL, there was understandable curiosity. But for those who have been following closely, the 22-year-old is a serious talent, going through the best phase of his short career so far.
Debuting for the Karnataka senior team in the 2024/25 season, he scored 170 runs in six Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy matches, at a strike rate of 170. He followed that up with centuries in each of his last three matches across formats.
The first of those (101) powered Karnataka to 348 from 67-3 and eventually a win, in the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy final. The next, 203, was his maiden first-class ton, helping his side bury Punjab under a mountain of runs in a must-win Ranji Trophy game.
The last was an unbeaten 133 to salvage a draw against Haryana, in an innings where no one else made 50; this was a lineup that had Test batters Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal above him.
That form carried into this year’s Maharaja KSCA T20 Trophy, Karnataka’s version of the seemingly innumerable state franchise leagues in India. 415 runs at 69.2 and a strike rate of 156, read his season’s returns as the Gulbarga Mystics were eliminated in the playoffs.
“I'm not a guy who usually picks up a lot of things from other people.”
It’s a sentiment that could rub people the wrong way. But in Smaran’s case, it only brings out his immense, yet understated, sense of self-belief. “I strongly believe in my own process, and my hard work that I have put in through the season,” he tells Wisden.com.
“There are a lot of people in and around me who have achieved a lot. They carry great experience, and have won a lot of trophies, but I trust in my own process.”
Batting left-handed and standing tall at the crease, the 22-year-old idolised Michael Hussey and Kumar Sangakkara growing up. An easy stylistic comparison to make now is Rachin Ravindra. The early signs of his game are highly promising; Smaran has shown excellent judgment outside his off-stump in long-form cricket, and is a particularly good player of short-pitched bowling. By and large, adaptability is his watchword.
Ravichandran Smaran – record in professional cricket
| Format | Matches | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | High Score |
| First-class | 7 | 516 | 64.50 | 65.56 | 203 |
| List A | 10 | 433 | 72.16 | 100.23 | 101 |
| T20 | 6 | 170 | 34.00 | 170.00 | 57 |
Smaran: Shorter formats are a by-product of red-ball cricket
It is rare for a player to take to all three formats of the game like a duck to water, in their very first season of senior cricket. His 50-over ton came barely a week before he had to take the field for the Ranji game against Punjab.
“Juggling between the three formats is not an easy task, especially with the schedule we have nowadays,” he admits. “Test cricket is something that I’ve always wanted to play. I think the other two formats are a by-product of playing Test (red-ball) cricket.
“A lot of practice and training is done in the off-season, and more than the skills required to play it, it’s just the mindset that has to be really strong in order to make that quick switch, especially from white-ball to red-ball.
“[During my double-century] I initially took some time in the middle knowing that I'm coming off white-ball to red-ball. I gave myself enough time out there in the middle, and then once I got that start, I just took it forward.”
The natural next step for Smaran, like any other aspiring cricketer in India, is the IPL. His domestic heroics came only after he went unsold in last year’s player auction, but he did earn a contract with Sunrisers Hyderabad midway through the 2025 campaign.
“It was the first time my name was in the auction,” he recalls. “And I was eagerly watching as to what would happen, and which team would pick me. But it didn't happen during the auction.
“So then after that, I just thought that whatever happens, happens. I'll just keep doing my work, I'll just keep scoring runs and try making my team win, and if it comes it comes. If it doesn't, I'll put in more work. And try again next year.”
There is a level-headedness about Smaran’s manner, both on camera and at the crease. Even during clearly uncomfortable moments – he nicked two deliveries through the slips in the nineties, during his double hundred – he rarely appears rushed or out of his depth.
It is, perhaps, one of the benefits of consistently being part of a professional setup from a young age. Smaran has been in the system for nearly a decade, representing Karnataka since his U14 days.
In the 2018/19 season, aged 15, his 617 runs in six Vijay Merchant Trophy (U16) matches led to a promotion to the U19s, and seven Cooch Behar Trophy appearances in the same campaign. He made 95 and 131 not out in his first game and finished with 488 runs, averaging over 54.
“The only challenge I faced was the pace on the ball,” he says of that shift to a higher level so quickly. “Pacers bowling against me was a little step higher. I was facing close to 110-115 (kph) max in U16, and then slightly elder [sic] guys in U19, who were getting it up to 125-130.
“But in order to make a switch from U16 to U19, I didn't feel much of a difference. The base was still the same, we were still playing red-ball. And again, I had gotten a lot of runs in U16. I just carried that confidence forward.”
When he made the step up to the Sunrisers camp during the IPL, his attitude was much the same: “Obviously, there are certain more experienced players in the league, and if we're able to adapt to the situations and absorb that pressure… More than anything, in the IPL, I think whoever absorbs the pressure at the end of the day would come out on the winning side. But I think the game still stays the same.”
It might seem that the curve of Smaran’s career has only gone upwards, but he has seen his fair share of roadblocks. His IPL stint was cut short by an injury in training, which paved the way for Ranji record-breaker Harsh Dubey’s debut in the back half of the tournament. But part of what steeled him for that disappointment came three years earlier: in 2022, he didn’t make the cut for India’s U19 World Cup squad, which the team went on to win.
Missing the U19 World Cup felt like ‘the end of the world’
“Representing India at the U19 World Cup was everything to me at that time,” he says. “A lot of effort went into it, but when I missed out on it, I felt really bad. I thought it was the end of the world.
“So a lot of credit goes to my family, my sister, my parents, and my coach especially, Syed [Zabiullah] sir, who got me back on track. I realised that playing [for] India U19 was not everything, and representing my state, Karnataka, at the senior level was the most important thing. All my efforts from then onwards, went into that.”
Those efforts paid off almost immediately. Going back to Bengaluru’s league circuit, Smaran finished as the third-highest run-scorer in the 2022/23 KSCA Division I, with 647 runs at 64.7 for Vultures Cricket Club.
In 2023-24, his 768 runs came at an average of 109, as no one else in the league scored more than 600. What followed was even better: he captained Karnataka to the state’s first-ever CK Nayudu Trophy (U23) title, finishing fourth on the run-scoring chart. That finally pushed him into the senior team.
‘In general, you see a lot more failures than successes’
The pragmatism he has towards his cricket reflects beyond it as well. He comes neither from a cricketing background, nor a situation that demands taking the plunge into the uncertain world of professional sport as the only shot at making it in life.
“Obviously a lot of effort goes into training and towards cricket. But simultaneously, I think it's very important for everybody to have an educational background, and to complete their basic education,” Smaran says. He has completed a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Finance.
“I think it’s very necessary because, not only cricket, but sport in general there's lots of ups and downs. And in general, you see a lot more failures than successes. It's a very short span, you don't have a lot of time in sport. Huge credit goes to my parents for pushing me and ensuring that I balance both cricket as well as studies at the same time.”
In the days immediately after this interview, Smaran recorded his two highest scores of the Maharaja Trophy campaign; 84 off 48 balls and 89 off 52, both unbeaten and both where no teammate made it to 30. By the end of the tournament, Devdutt Padikkal was the only other player with over 400 runs.
He was the first this season to score 300 and then 350 runs, and the first to hit 20 and then 25 sixes; every run rubber-stamped with his trademark panache. His stellar run has now earned him a Duleep Trophy debut for South Zone in the competition final on September 11, in place of Padikkal.
But for Smaran, these heights are nothing new; just the latest box to tick, before the next step comes.
Image credit: X.com / Maharaja T20
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