CHENNAI: The last breath that Tamil Nadu’s campaign drew on Sunday brought into focus a problem that the team has been saddled with for a while. Apart from their pacer contingent being in a constant state of disarray courtesy injuries, their slower brethren too have failed to shoulder the team’s bowling burden. A look at how Tamil Nadu’s spinners have fared during this event ought to serve as proof.
R Ashwin, Washington Sundar, Rahil Shah, and M Abhinav were the four men (excluding part-timers) who comprised their tweaker challenge. In 15 outings, they sent down 132.3 overs and claimed 14 scalps, with an average and strike-rate of 39.93 and 56.79.
These statistics do seem respectable, taking into consideration that domestic spinners are often delegated the tasks of shoring up one end and plugging run-leaks.But the removal of one outlier — read Ashwin, who claimed half of those wickets — unravels an altogether different story. Minus him, the average and strike-rate rocket to 56 and 80.“You need an attacking mindset. If the opening men bowl well, then spinners become more difficult to play,” acknowledged Tamil Nadu coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar. The mental salve recommended by him, though, needs to be made use of as early as possible, since this 50-over event is only a microcosm of this problem.
The Syed Mushtaq Trophy too saw a similar narrative unfurl. Sundar, R Sai Kishore, Rahil, and Murugan Ashwin were the revolution-imparters.They accounted for 21 scalps in 23 innings, at an average, strike-rate, and economy of 26.43, 21.52 and 7.37. But the heart-warming nature of those digits dissipates the moment Sundar is taken out of the equation. Nine wickets at an average, strike-rate, and economy of 35.67, 27.56, and 7.77.
Rewind this time-frame back by a couple of more months, and the Ranji Trophy also shows congruence. Sundar, Kishore, and Rahil were the designated tweaker trifecta. For 24 victims in the same number of innings, they had an average and strike-rate of 49 and 97.25 to show. Those numbers further plummet to 59.83 and 118 without Sundar’s contributions; a far cry from statistical mediocrity.
In this regard, blooding new faces may perhaps be the tourniquet that Tamil Nadu needs. “We have to see. We liked what we saw with M Abhinav on Sunday. If there are guys who can fight and make their way to this level, we’re all for it.”
South wrap
Group A: Karnataka 265/8 in 42 ovs (KL Rahul 107, Pavan Deshpande 53; Siddharth Kaul 3/47) lost to Punjab 269/3 in 42 ovs (Shubman Gill 123 n.o, Mandeep Singh 64). Odisha 137/1 in 25.4 ovs (Rajesh Dhuper 70 n.o, Govinda Poddar 50 n.o) bt Assam 136 in 46.1 ovs. Group B: Tripura 231/9 in 50 ovs (MB Mura Singh 61; Nidheesh MD 3/29) lost to Kerala 234/6 in 45.1 ovs (Rohan Prem 52; Neelambuj Vats 3/49). Group C: Andhra 276/6 in 50 ovs (KS Bharat 82, Ricky Bhui 52, B Sumanth 62 n.o) bt Tamil Nadu 247 in 48.5 ovs.
rahulravi@newindianexpress.com