CHENNAI: Though the word 'inbetweener' may not have gained official entry in the English lexicon, it perhaps comes the closest in summing up Tamil Nadu's current position in the Ranji Trophy. Be it in the table — they're fifth of nine teams in Group A — or otherwise.
Despite a few batting-order implosions and a couple of results not going their way, Tamil Nadu have positives to keep the wind in their sails as they go up against Madhya Pradesh — a spot above them — at the DRIEMS Ground in Cuttack on Thursday.
The return of Vijay Shankar, after a nine-month absence from competitive cricket, augurs well for the Tamil Nadu contingent, considering the fact that their batting has already found a ballast of sorts in the form of Abhinav Mukund's, Dinesh Karthik's and Baba Indrajith's recent exploits with their willows. “Our boys showed character in Dharamsala (against Uttar Pradesh), and played a long innings.
We came close, but that's still not enough. We need to refuel, and get ourselves in a position to cross the finish line next time,” observed Tamil Nadu bowling coach L Balaji on Wednesday. “And, we need a player like Vijay.
He brings flexibility in terms of options and experience with him.” If batting made amends after their initial gaffes, Tamil Nadu's bowling unit — pacers Thangarasu Natarajan, Krishnamoorthy Vignesh and Aswin Crist, in particular — have made an impression throughout, even if their relentless back-bending hasn't always resulted in wickets.
The pace trio have accumulated 33 wickets between them, at a combined average of 22.43. Not to mention the 77 maiden overs they've sent down so far. “As a bowling unit, our boys have done well, though the results may not have gone our way. We're still looking at improving, as there's always room for it. With this being is a coastal area, humidity may come into play, and we're trying to adjust to that,” explained the former India speedster.
Madhya Pradesh have so far been missing Naman Ojha due to a side strain. Ishwar Pandey — their pace spearhead — has shouldered a brunt of their toil with the leather, churning out 122.3 overs that also included an eight-for against Punjab a fortnight ago. But, as far as Balaji and the team are concerned, all this is tantamount to background noise.
“We're not looking at oppositions, to be honest. They keep changing, but we remain the same,” mused Balaji. “We concentrate on our development, and the areas that we have a chance to go an inch further in. We're going in with a positive outlook, and we want six points from this clash.”