Fresh outlook: Sai Kishore’s males performed an aggressive model of cricket.
| Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI
Tamil Nadu’s 2023-24 Ranji Trophy season got here to an finish with a crushing innings and 70-run defeat to Mumbai in the semifinals. Though the meek give up left many dissatisfied, TN nonetheless will really feel it had a good run in the premier competitors after it lastly broke a five-season drought of not even qualifying for the knockouts.
R. Sai Kishore’s males performed an aggressive model of cricket and acquired 5 outright wins from 9 video games, together with three wins by an innings. The group maximised its power in house situations, with the senior batters piling on the runs whereas the spinners ran by way of batting line-ups because it bowled out its opposition twice in all video games till the semifinal.
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N. Jagadeesan had his greatest Ranji season with 816 runs, together with a triple and double-hundred; he was additionally spectacular with the huge gloves. However, modest returns towards high groups is one thing he would wish to right.
B. Indrajith (767 runs) continued to dwell as much as his billing as TN’s disaster man with very important knocks when the group was underneath stress. Vijay Shankar and Pradosh Ranjan Paul, too, made essential runs, with a century every. On the bowling entrance, Sai Kishore, with his left-arm spin (53), turned solely the third TN bowler to scalp greater than 50 wickets and may even find yourself as the highest wicket-taker in the competitors.
He was ably supported by Ajith Ram (41), and medium-pacer Sandeep Warrier (24) bowled with coronary heart and gave essential breakthroughs even on sluggish surfaces.
However, when it got here to enjoying in situations that helped the seamers, the TN batters’ technical frailties have been uncovered. The group performed solely two video games on such pitches — the first one in Valsad towards Gujarat and the semifinal towards Mumbai — and these have been the ones wherein it suffered outright defeats.
Throughout the season, Sai Kishore spoke about trusting his instincts as captain, and he walked the discuss, main from the entrance with each bat and ball. But towards Mumbai, his resolution to bat first on a inexperienced high backfired.
If the defeat was unhealthy sufficient, coach Sulakshan Kulkarni’s post-match feedback pinning the blame on the captain for dropping the match at the toss made it worse, revealing the schism inside the group.
Former TN cricketers Okay. Srikkanth, Hemang Badani and Dinesh Karthik known as out the coach for letting the group down in public.
“Instead of backing the captain who brought the team to the semifinals after seven years and thinking it’s a start for good things to happen, the coach has thrown his captain and team under the bus. Disappointed at how he reacted and disregarding the senior players who have led from the front is sad to see,” stated Karthik.
Despite the loss, the group now has a baseline of efficiency from which it might construct, offered it might iron out some points, particularly on the batting entrance.
