DINDIGUL: When they are short on resources, Tamil Nadu like taking a gamble or two. Especially when without key men in their pace department, they have time and again punted in Ranji Trophy by playing on turners, banking on their batting unit to deliver in home conditions. These have happened in their opener or towards the end of the league stage. They have mostly paid off, but they have often appeared short-sighted.
As Tamil Nadu prepared to face Madhya Pradesh with an injury-ravaged pace attack short on experience, one wondered if they would do the same. On the eve of the match, captain Baba Indrajith played down talks of a turner. But given how NPR College’s ground (Natham) has been used for the said gambles, doubts persisted.
On Thursday, they did gamble. But with something they generally don’t try at home. They presented a flat surface, fully aware of what to expect. As Indrajith mentioned, Tamil Nadu were not reacting, but dictating the pace of the game. This despite Madhya Pradesh choosing to bat first. The home team’s attack showed enough discipline as the visitors rode on Rajat Patidar’s patient, unbeaten 110 to tally 214/3 on Day 1. It was a brave call from Tamil Nadu. Their strong batting line-up notwithstanding, failure to restrict the opposition on such a surface would entail the likelihood of scoreboard pressure.
Madhya Pradesh adopt pitches like these back home to out-bat oppositions. They didn’t arrive expecting this. But when they got one, they couldn’t use it.Though they lost only three wickets, they were made to earn each run. M Mohammed, debutant Abhishek Tanwar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rahil Shah, Vijay Shankar, and even Baba Aparajith maintained either a fifth-stump channel or directed their lines at batsmen, with fielders to back them. Even when seamers went around the wicket, they seldom bowled punishable deliveries.
Patidar acknowledged the limited rope handed to his team’s batsmen. “It was a flat surface, but Tamil Nadu bowled well. I had to wait for the balls that allowed me to play my shots. It wasn’t easy to score, as they came with a set plan and bowled accordingly. If you look at it, there were not many loose balls.”
After losing Ankit Dane early, Aryaman Birla and Patidar quietly went about building a platform. Birla, only in his second first-class game, doesn’t have the elegance associated with southpaws. But he knows how to toil, while not minding plays-and-misses. His maiden fifty (163 balls) could have ended early had Abhinav Mukund latched on to a chance when he was on 11. If Birla was unattractive to watch, Patidar was the opposite. Four of his nine boundaries came via eye-pleasing cover drives. Despite Tamil Nadu tempting him with fuller lengths, he showed restraint.
venkatakrishn@newindianexpress.com
Brief scores
(Day 1)
Elite Group B
In Vizag: Punjab 261/6 in 90 ovs (Mandeep 68, Sanvir 63 n.o, Shubman 56; Bandaru 3/64) vs Andhra.
In T’Puram: Kerala 231/4 in 85 ovs (Saxena 57, Sachin 57 n.o, Samson 53) vs Hyderabad.
In Dindigul: MP 214/3 in 89 ovs (Patidar 110 n.o, Birla 51) vs TN.
Elite Group C
In Bhubaneswar: Odisha 232/6 in 90 ovs (Sarangi 114) vs Haryana.