Who is Smaran Ravichandran? Karnataka batter replaces Nitish Kumar Reddy to make IPL debut during SRH vs KKR

Smaran Ravichandran's dream of playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) finally came true on Sunday after the Karnataka batter was named in the Sunrisers Hyderabad playing Xi against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

A highly rated batter in Karnataka in domestic cricket, Smaran replaced all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who missed out due to illness, skipper Pat Cummins informed during the coin toss. Along with Smaran, Sunrisers Hyderabad have also brought in Harshal Patel, replacing Harsh Dubey.

“We'll bat first. Pitch looks good and it's very hot, we'll bat and post a total. I'm not good at reading the pitches, it looks nice and must be high scoring. Nitish misses out. He's got a bit of illness, Smaran comes in for his first game and Harshal Patel replaces Harsh Dubey,” said Cummins during coin toss.

All you need to know about Smaran Ravichandran

Smaran first came limelight during his U-19 days when he was scoring a lot for his state side Karnataka. However, a stress fracture in early 2020, sidelined him for almost eight months. On return to cricket, Smaran missed out on a place in the Indian team for the U19 World Cup in 2022.

Using the heartbreak as confidence, Smaran finally made his first-class debut for Karnataka senior side in 2024. Since then, there has been no looking back for the left-hander southpaw. His biggest breakthrough came in the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare trophy, finishing as Karnataka's second-highest run-getter with 433 runs with two hundreds and two fifties.

The highlight of Smaran's career came in the 2025-26 season of Ranji Trophy, as the Karnataka batter finished on top of the list for most runs with 950 runs in nine matches with a best of 227 not out. Smaran's name started floating through the IPL scouting circles by March 2025 when his clips from Royal Challengers Bengaluru trials went viral on social media.

The tall batter not only cleared the ropes, Smaran launched spinners out of the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Unsold at the 2025 auction, Sunrisers Hyderabad roped in Smaran as Adam Zampa's replacement midway into IPL 2025, but before he could play a game, the youngster was ruled out with an injury. But, the Sunrisers Hyderabad management decided to retain him.

In just two seasons, Smaran has already established himself as one of India's upcoming talents with the bat and is known for his high-intent strokeplay and composure under pressure. At Sunrisers Hyderabad, Smaran will be batting in the middle order, with a role more of a finisher.

SRH vs KKR playing XIs

Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane(c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi(w), Cameron Green, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi, Varun Chakaravarthy

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan(w), Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora, Aniket Verma, Smaran Ravichandran, Pat Cummins(c), Shivang Kumar, Harshal Patel, Eshan Malinga

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