CHENNAI: Curators dishing out rank turners for visiting sides in Tests in Asia has become a passe. So have Tamil Nadu curators, not just this season, but also in the previous two -three seasons as well.
Tamil Nadu coach M Sanjay believes there is nothing wrong in preparing surfaces to suit a team’s strength. “To prepare a wicket to suit the home team’s strength is not a crime. It could be a spin-oriented wicket or a surface that helps pace. Whatever be the wicket it should not be flat and result in dull draws,’’ he observed.
“On flat tracks also, the toss becomes vital and the team that bats first piles up huge totals and goes willfully for a draw, which is poor advertisement for the game. If you want people to come out and watch Ranji matches, you have to give tracks that help produce result,’’ added Sanjay.
Most South Zone teams prepare spinning tracks. “When you go up north, they prepare seaming tracks. Their batsmen are not that comfortable playing spin, so teams from south prepare tracks that aid spin to capitalise on that aspect,’’ said Sanjay.
But Andhra captain Mohammad Kaif endorses neutral pitches. “There is nothing wrong in preparing surfaces to suit a team’s strength. But I personally feel that a track at this level should offer a good contest between the bat and ball. The wicket should help seamers on day one, batsmen on day two and spinners from day three,’’ he opined.
Sanjay specifies that playing quality spinners will help improve batsmen’s technique. “Spinning surfaces actually help players improve technique. You can at times manage fast bowling with hand-eye coordination. But to play quality spin, one needs footwork. The south guys, not just Tamil Nadu, but Andhra, Hyderabad and Kerala can play good spin as many of them play in the TNCA league. So I firmly believe that if you have the technique, you can play any bowler without complaining about the surface,’’ he said.
Rain Washes Out 2nd Day’s Play
Chennai: Persistent rainfall forced the umpires to abandon the second day’s play without a ball being bowled in the Group B Ranji match between Andhra and Tamil Nadu here.
Andhra were bowled out for 203 in their first innings after electing to bat. In reply, Tamil Nadu are yet to open their score. The on-field umpires made three inspections before deciding to abandon the day’s play at 3pm.
Jaffer First to reach 10,000-run Mark
Kolkata: Vidarbha opener Wasim Jaffer on Sunday became the first cricketer in Ranji Trophy history to notch up 10,000 runs on Day 2 of their Group A match against Bengal at the Jadavpur University second campus ground in Salt Lake. Having made his debut for Mumbai in 1996-97, Jaffer needed eight runs to reach the milestone, which he got with an elegant drive to long off against Bengal seamer Veer Pratap in the penultimate delivery of eighth over.
Ranji Wrap
Group A
At Kolkata: Bengal 334 (Sudip 116, Wakhare 4/85, Wagh 3/53) vs Vidarbha 141/7 (Fazal 63, Ojha 5/30).
Delhi: Maharashtra 80 and 176 (Manan 4/47) lost to Delhi 230 (Shorey 104 n.o, Rana 59) and 30/1 by nine wickets.
Rohtak: Haryana 168 and 15/3 vs Assam 120 (Hooda 4/27, Patel 3/37).
Mysuru: Odisha 232 vs Karnataka 255/3 (Uthappa 83 n.o, Mayank 78, Karun 52 n. o.).
Group B
Chennai: Andhra 203 vs Tamil Nadu 0/0 (day’s play abandoned due to rain).
Valsad: Gujarat: 505 (Panchal 128, Axar 81, Irfan Pathan 6/47) vs Baroda 82/3.
Gwalior: Railways 256 & 42/ 1 vs Madhya Pradesh 276 (Patidar 113, Rameez 53, Karn 5/102, Anureet 3/40).
Mumbai: Mumbai 610 for 9 decl (Iyer 137, Sharma 113, Lad 89 vs Uttar Pradesh 51/0.
Group C
Dharamsala: Himachal Pradesh 531 (Paras Dogra 227, Nikhil Gangta 98; Diwesh Pathania 3/108) vs Services 105/0 (Soumik 57 n.o.).
Jamshedpur: Jharkhand 551/8 decl (Anand 124, Kishan 109, Rasool 3/127) vs Jammu & Kashmir 17/1.
Perinthalmanna: Kerala 347 (Prem 118, Sachin 70) vs Tripura 119/2 (Bose 52 retd).
Rajkot: Goa 239 vs Saurashtra 224/8 (Barot 56, Singh 4/57, Amit 3/58 ).