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SBT, a team to bank on

The State Bank of Travancore cricket team is riding a merry wave now

WINNING RUN The State Bank of Travancore cricket team coach T.P. Ajith Kumar PHOTO: H. VIBHU

Think of State Bank of Travancore and sport at the national level and images of Asif Saheer, Sylvester Ignatius and Abdul Hakkim spring to mind. That's because the Thiruvananthapuram-headquartered bank is a heavyweight in football, has been a major contributor to Kerala's Santosh Trophy-winning teams for many years and had been a part of the premier National Football League till a few months ago.

Now, the SBT cricket team has nicely emerged from footballers' shadows. A heavyweight at the State-level for many years, the side has now stepped up and has begun winning titles at the national-level in a small way.

Cricket champs?

It has recently won the Banks Olympiad cricket title in Chennai recently. It also won the Associate Banks crown in Hyderabad a few weeks ago, finishing above teams like State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Hyderabad, which had stars like Ambatti Rayudu and Anirudh Singh.

"We're a highly motivated bunch now. And a lot of credit goes to our coach T.P. Ajith Kumar. He is a players' man," said SBT's former Ranji star Sanjay Mohan.

"When I took over a couple of years ago, I found that motivation was lacking. Now, I've made them a bunch of believers," said Ajith Kumar, a BCCI Level I coach and a former Ranji opener

Surprising, for the bank has quite a few weary legs, with nearly half of its first eleven close to the mid-thirties. Staying away from injuries and staying fit are some of the things the team has had to cope up with.

But with State Bank of India now keeping up with the times and looking young , its associate bank SBT, and its cricket team could just be living up to the trend. Just three or four years ago a couple of its players made it to the Kerala Ranji team but now there are five. The team is now keen on taking part in bigger events like the Buchi Babu and Moin-ud-Dowla tournaments.

"We want the Kerala Cricket Association to help us in this matter," said Ajith.

By being the sole source of employment for Kerala cricketers for many years, the SBT has played a big role in the growth of the game in the State.

Strengthening team

With the bank now eyeing bigger things, it needs to strengthen its team with fresher faces. Promising youngsters, like V. A. Jagadeesh, who has been a guest player for some time now, need to be absorbed. SBT's last appointment in cricket was in 2003. With Tamil Nadu recently shutting its doors to outstation players in its league, in a move to green the pastures for its local talent, many roads are now closed for Kerala cricketers.

Kerala cricket is now on a high, with two fast bowlers, Tinu Yohannan and S. Sreesanth, having made it to the Indian team and with talented youngsters promising us the world. Our sparkling youngsters just need to be offered a hope that their future will indeed be bright.

STAN RAYAN

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