TIRUNELVELI: Tamil Nadu’s woes do not seem to end. The third day’s play between the hosts and Gujarat at the India Cements ground at Sankar Nagar had to be called off despite the fact that there was no rainfall.
It was a bright and sunny day and the ground-staff were working overtime to ensure some action took place. Match officials carried out four inspections before finally declaring no play was possible due to wet outfield at 3.30 pm. It was disappointing for both sets of coaches as they would have fancied their chances of logging full points from this encounter. Even more so for the home side as they still need nine points to ensure qualification to the knockout stage.
Tamil Nadu coach M Sanjay summed up the situation very aptly. “The situation is getting desperate. I hope we get a full day’s play on Thursday. Otherwise, our last match against Punjab at Dindigul might just be of only academic interest.”
Vijay Patel, Gujarat coach, echoed the same sentiments. “Despite TN being worse off than us, the tie getting washed out means teams catch up with us and our final game virtually becomes a shoot-out. Also we have had very little practice because of inclement weather and it might just derail our momentum.”
The weather forecast says clear skies can be expected here and it bodes well for the two-time Ranji Trophy champions. “We will go out all guns blazing. Hopefully we will get a full day. The pitch seems to be bowler-friendly,” Sanjay told Express.