Tamil Nadu captain Dinesh Karthik and head coach Sulakshan Kulkarni share a light-weight second in Thane on Friday, November 24, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Amol Karhadkar
The final time Tamil Nadu lifted the Vijay Hazare Trophy — the inter-State one-day championship — Dinesh Karthik scored a fluent hundred in opposition to the Mohammed Shami-led Bengal bowling assault in the 2016-17 remaining.
The Tamil Nadu group will search for to its veteran to reignite the fireplace because it begins its Group E marketing campaign on Saturday in opposition to Goa at the Dadoji Konddev Stadium.
Karthik, 38, had been concerned as a commentator for the World Cup. However, after being reappointed as captain for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the veteran warlord diligently joined his teammates for the preparation in Boisar on the outskirts of Mumbai over the final week.
On Friday, whereas Goa took it simple after its defeat in opposition to Madhya Pradesh in the opening sport on Thursday, Karthik and Co. had an extended session right here for nearly three hours. Head coach Sulakshan Kulkarni was assured Karthik’s presence would increase the group in an enormous manner.
“His commitment has been excellent. Even after checking in very late at night during the World Cup knockouts, he used to be the first one out on the park the next morning,” Kulkarni advised The Hindu after the session.
While a majority of Tamil Nadu gamers can be taking part in at the stadium for the first time, neither Karthik nor Kulkarni are alien to it. During his stint with the Kolkata Knight Riders, Karthik used to repeatedly prepare at the venue. Kulkarni is a hometown boy and returns to the venue the place he made his Mumbai debut virtually 4 many years in the past.
Over the final week, the Karthik and Kulkarni mix — with L. Balaji’s in a position assist — has been in a position to shed the disappointment of exiting in the preliminary stage of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final month.
“The pitches were a bit sluggish over there and our batters struggled to adjust. Not only will the red-soil pitches help our batters, but to ensure they adapt quickly, we have been training here for a week. Let’s hope we get off to a good start,” Kulkarni mentioned.
Goa will closely depend on Rahul Tripathi, its import from Maharashtra who began off with a scintillating 92 in opposition to Madhya Pradesh, to negate Kuldip Sen’s uncooked tempo. The duel between the two visitor gamers can be an attention-grabbing affair ought to the pitch proceed to help the pacers the manner it did on Thursday.
