An enthusiastic bunch of rookies and rising stars from the Thrissur Titans took their supporters through some nerve-wracking moments before clinching the Kerala Cricket League (KCL) 2026 title at the Sports Hub Greenfield stadium on Saturday.
When the young guns failed to close out the match comfortably, it was left to the older and wiser head of captain M.S. Akhil to usher in the victory. Akhil slammed Ibnul Afthab for a boundary with four balls to spare in the final.
The Titans’ triumph was the coronation of their youth and a strong justification for the management’s policy of promoting young talent. From giving opportunities to 18-year-old K.R. Rohit—the youngest player in the tournament—in high-pressure knockout matches, to handing a debut to greenhorn pacer Muhammed Irshad in a crucial league match, the Thrissur management was fully willing to take risks. Ultimately, the players responded by perfectly executing their assigned roles.
Thrissur Titans’ head coach S. Sunil Kumar said he had faith in the young talent in the team.
| Photo Credit:
M R Praveen Chandran
Thrissur Titans’ head coach S. Sunil Kumar said he had faith in the young talent in the team.
| Photo Credit:
M R Praveen Chandran
“The average age of the team is 23, which is the lowest in the tournament. The oldest player was M.S. Akhil, who is 35. We made him the captain after being impressed with his leadership skills, and he did a pretty good job. At Thrissur Titans, we have always believed in encouraging young talent, even if it was a gamble. But it was not like we picked players at random at the auction. We did the scouting and zeroed in on players whom we thought fitted into our set up., “said S. Sunil Kumar, the Thrissur Titans coach.
When the Titans lost three chases in a row during the league stage, it became apparent that opposing teams fancied setting targets for them. However, the Titans consistently found clutch players to finish off games. Mohammed Enaan, A.K. Arjun, Anand Joseph, and M.S. Akhil all turned out to be last-over heroes for Thrissur during this campaign.
“I think we could have avoided some last-over finishes if we had batted better in the middle overs. Our main issues this season were a lack of runs in the Powerplay and losing wickets in the middle overs. However, we always finished well because we had batting depth, and our tailenders were fairly capable of using the long handle.
We weren’t too worried when we lost three chases in a row during the league phase. I had faith in the boys. In the final, we had the chase under control, but when we lost a couple of quick wickets, the instructions to the players were to take risks and go for big shots. We didn’t want to leave 15 or 16 runs to chase in the final over. We kept that requirement down to four, and we won,” the coach concluded.
Published on Sep 07, 2026
