DINDIGUL: The Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) has been Krishnamoorthy Vignesh's good luck charm ever since the tournament’s inception. Three years ago, the league had set the then 20-year-old speedster’s domestic career in motion, cannoning him into the Tamil Nadu fold courtesy his joint-third standing in that edition’s wicket-takers’ list. Fast forward to Monday at the NPR College cricket ground in Natham.
Even as Vignesh busied himself with practice before Lyca Kovai Kings’ clash against Ruby Trichy Warriors later in the evening, the rightarm pacer was about to receive another piece of good news: a maiden opportunity to participate in Duleep Trophy, as part of the India Green contingent. After being launched into domestic cricket, the two years in between have seen Vignesh evolve into a more-refined version. Improvement in fitness is quite evident from his frame. He’s picked up a couple of yards in pace. And his accuracy seems to have enhanced. All this could perhaps also be attributed to the two weeks of hard work that Vignesh had put in under the eyes of Ryan Harris, Troy Cooley, and Chris Rodgers.
Those three had guided him and Basil Thampi from the start of this month in Brisbane, during the yearly exchange programme between Cricket Australia and MRF Pace Foundation. Coincidentally, Vignesh had turned down the same opportunity during the previous year to continue his second TNPL stint, as Kovai were missing many star players. Then there’s the fact that Vignesh has never shied away from shouldering responsibility; a trait that perhaps came into being during his trials by fire. In his maiden sojourn, Vignesh matched Aswin Crist and Thangarasu Natarajan, as the troika propelled Tamil Nadu to the semifinals of the Ranji Trophy. He’d finished as the state’s top wicket-taker, with 37.
Even as injuries took away the other two names next season, the Thiruvallur native served as one of his state’s very few silver linings, topping his team’s dismissals chart with 24 scalps. Vignesh’s statistics from this TNPL season aren’t going to make jaws drop (three wickets at an economy of 7.6). Even his figures on Monday — 4-0-21- 1 — make for a good T20 read, not a sensational one. But, 18 of those 24 balls were proof enough that even without a burgeoning wicket tally, Vignesh can make an impact. Opening Kovai’s effort, the first roll of Vignesh’s shoulder had Trichy’s Bharat Shankar in a quite a tangle.
That first over saw the speedster reel out exaggerated movement in both directions (a sight that has been far from common at this ground this season), with one fizzer completely wrongfooting stumper R Rohith, and running away to the boundary. His three overs of swinging, length offerings, coupled with pressure from Natarajan and S Ajith Ram, had set Trichy up for their eventual downward spiral by the powerplay, as they fumbled to 124/9. M Shahrukh Khan performed their final rites with his blade, and the game was won with utmost ease. Vignesh, in what could be his last dress rehearsal for his next big-ticket event at the same venue, had yet again shown that he could shoulder responsibility. Brief scores: Ruby Trichy Warriors 124/9 in 20 ovs (Suresh Kumar 35; S Manigandan 2/18, S Ajith Ram 2/26) lost to Lyca Kovai Kings 125/2 in 13.4 ovs (M Shahrukh Khan 67, Abhinav Mukund 42 n.o; D Kumaran 2/13).
rahul.ravi@newindianexpress.com