Around 90 minutes into play on the final day, debutant Sonu Yadav struck for one final time as Tamil Nadu got their new Ranji season off to a winning start, defeating Saurashtra by an innings and 70 runs.
This was as comprehensive as it can get, especially when one factors the conditions, which were vastly different to ones they usually play at home to collect a chunky 7 points. Out of the 20 Saurashtra wickets they took, 15 – including nine in the second innings – came from their seamers, as TN appear ready to put their past ghosts behind them.
These are still early days into the season, but Tamil Nadu are beginning to reap rewards for starting their preparations early. In May, when the whole of India was busy with the IPL, a 19-member Tamil Nadu squad went on a 27-day tour to the UK, where they featured in multi-day and 50-over matches against club sides. Though the IPL regulars were not available, seven of those who were part of the squad for their match against Saurashtra were part of the trip.
Meant to help batsmen, who mostly get to play on spinning decks in TNCA First Division, the green tops in UK gave them the much needed exposure to seaming conditions.
And playing Saurashtra in the opening game, they played on a green top. “The UK tour was a good platform for the youngsters and it also gave us the opportunity to know where they stand and what needs to be done. With new support staff around led by former India international L Balaji and this being a young group, we wanted to connect with them, to understand them better. We built on it in the Buchi Babu and by the time Ranji came, we are up and running,” TN’s batting coach Tanveer Jabber said.
For a team that is looking to end the Ranji drought with their last title dating back to 1987/88, their job only gets tougher this season. For the next match in Delhi, they will miss the services of their captain R Sai Kishore because of Emerging Cup commitments. And then, they are likely to lose B Sai Sudharsan and Baba Indrajith – their batting mainstays – for India A’s tour of Australia. “It is the reason why we wanted to put the second line of cricketers in the firing line during the UK tour. We will be without them in away conditions, and it can’t be suddenly foreign to them. One thing that Bala (L Balaji) has spoken about is adaptability – to different conditions, attacks and weather,” Jabber said.
It is also hard to miss the stark change in the attitude. Balaji has introduced new training drills, including long distance running which have become non-negotiable. Even the long team meetings have disappeared. “We minimum do 7 rounds of the ground,” Sai Kishore says. “Without maintaining our fitness levels, we can’t go the distance. It is a combination of everything. And whether I’m there or not, the team has to be on autopilot mode. Next game Jagadeesan will take over what I’ve been doing. The messaging, irrespective of who is there, is common,” he added.
But all said and done, Tamil Nadu knows their biggest challenge will commence from Round 2, when they face Delhi at the Kotla. With as many as four away fixtures this time and all in the northern part, without key batsmen in their ranks, it will be a huge test of character.
And with runs being a premium they have chosen to invest in batsmen, who have shown promise at the age-group levels with Andre Siddarth making his debut here and scoring an impressive 38. There is Mohammed Ali and M Siddarth waiting in the wings to go with the experience of Vijay Shankar and S Ajith Ram.
“Since we knew these guys will be unavailable, our mindset from the outset has changed. When you want to be a top team, you will miss your players to the national set-up. And you can only be happy about it and then give opportunity to the youngsters. This win is definitely good, but we shouldn’t get carried away by the margin. At home, you want to get this. It is the away games that will show us the real picture. We have already pressed the reset button. That is the only time we meet at the end of the game to say, ‘it is over, press the reset button’. Win, draw or lose, you reset and move on,” Jabber says.
At Delhi, TN will hope they turn up again.
Brief scores: Saurashtra 203 & 94 (Gurjapneet Singh 6/21) lost to Tamil Nadu 367 (N Jagadeesan 100, Sai Sudharsan 82, Pradosh Ranjan Paul 49, Jaydev Unadkat 6/61) by innings & 70 runs. Points: Tamil Nadu 7, Saurashtra 0.
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