CHENNAI: It was a fruitful day for the Tamil Nadu teams — TNCA President's XI and TNCA XI — at the Gojan grounds on the outskirts of the city in the All India Buchi Babu Invitation Tournament here on Friday. Centuries by youngster C Andre Siddarth (111) and B Indrajith (104) propelled TNCA President's XI to post 384/9 in 90 overs against Maharashtra. Similarly, TNCA XI posted 414/8 against Haryana at the adjacent ground.
Andre was watchful initially, and once he had a feel of the wicket, runs flowed from the meat of the blade. Andre along with his skipper Pradosh Ranjan Paul added 144 runs for the third wicket in 39.4 overs. Tamil Nadu chief coach and TNCA President's XI coach M Senthilnathan was pleased with the way the duo played. 'Yeah, Andre played well and it was an improved performance than the last game. Because he went at a difficult time, you know, like wickets were falling around less than 20 runs with two wickets down. And the ball was new and it had some kind of help in the morning. So he negotiated that well. And after that, he played some very good shots,'' complimented Senthilnathan.''So Andre had the patience to play for a long time and get his runs. He was easy and comfortable on both sides of the wickets. He scored runs both on side and off. But the main thing that I like to say about his game was that he had patience. He waited, understood the situation and ensured that wickets did not fall. So he built the innings beautifully, so that's why he got a 100,'' he added.
B Indrajith played a responsible and compact innings where he almost scored a run a ball. The coach praised him for playing according to the situation. ''Indrajith really was in control of the situation. You know, that was a crucial period when he went. Because a couple of wickets fell quickly. So he really applied himself and played with the lower order batsmen. So I think it was a pretty good knock from him.''
Top order clicks for TNCA XI
For the TNCA XI, their top order batters clicked as a unit as they posted a big total. Openers B Sachin (74) and Tushar Raheja (86) made half centuries and later SR Athish (102) sored a century. Sachin and Tushar put on 153 runs in 42.2 overs for the first wicket. This is their second century partnership in the tournament. Athish along with Ali added exactly 100 runs in 23.4 overs for the third wicket.
Tushar was unlucky to miss a century. ''I feel that I backed my instincts. I thought that I missed out on a good chance for another ton. I enjoyed my stay,'' said Tushar.
In the recently held TNPL, Tushar was the highest run getter and on Friday he showed that he can adapt easily to red ball cricket. ''It wasn't difficult to adapt from white ball to the red ball. The six league (TNCA 1st Division) games that we played also helped me to get into the groove for red ball. It was just small mental changes. There wasn't too much to adapt to. Just small mental changes that I had to make and that helped,'' said Tushar.
''We're gelling well as a team. Before the start of the Buchi Babu, Tanveer Jabbar sir (coach of TNCA XI) had conversations with me and also the selectors. They gave me the freedom to, you know, to express myself. This helped me to play a lot more freely,'' revealed Tushar.
Former Tamil Nadu player and TNCA XI chief coach Tanveer lauded Tushar and insisted that the youngster can be an all-format player for Tamil Nadu. ''Tushar has been shaping up well. And there seems to be a clear-cut mindset difference from his last innings (previous match). But today he played very well,'' said Tanveer.
''The preparations for white ball and red ball are two completely different things. We are pleased with the boy's talent. Because we believe that his sense of picking up length is very very good. His shot selection was good. The last game he played against Mumbai was played on a completely different wicket. And this (today) is a completely different wicket. This wicket is a little more challenging. So it was very good to see him wait and play the ball closer to his body and not trying to reach for the ball. That is something which that guy really does well. And he has got a good footwork. So that is something which is helping him do well,'' pointed out Tanveer.
Brief scores: At Gojan 'B': TNCA President's XI 384/9 in 90 ovs (Pradosh Ranjan Paul 76, C Andre Siddarth 111, B Indrajith 104) vs Maharashtra. At SSN: Himachal Pradesh 144 in 57.2 ovs (Akash Vashisht 32, Aryavrat Sharma 38, Varun Singh Bhuie 4/35, Sourabh Majumdar 3/15) vs Chhattisgarh. At TI-Murugappa: Baroda 176 in 68.4 ovs (Sukirt Pandey 54, Vanshaj Sharma 6/65) vs Jammu & Kashmir 48/1 in 19 ovs.At SRMC: Odisha 222 in 85.4 ovs (Swastik Samal 33, Sambit Baral 37, Rajesh Dhupar 43, Badal Biswal 34 n.o., Raj Chaudhary 6/104) vs Indian Railways 19/0 in 4 ovs. At Gojan 'A': TNCA XI 414/8 in 90 ovs (B Sachin 74, Tushar Raheja 86, SR Athish 102, S Mohamed Ali 30, M Shahrukh Khan 33, R Sonu Yadav 46 n.o., Amit Rana 4/113) vs Haryana. At IITM-Chemplast: Mumbai 224/7 in 70 ovs (Suved Parkar 47, Harsh Aghav 33 , Aakash Parkar 35, Himanshu Singh 37 batting) vs Bengal. At MRF-Pachaiyappa's: Madhya Pradesh 213/8 in 86 overs (Rudransh Singh 63, Soham Patwardhan 93 batting, Raghu Shivam Sharma 3/42) vs Punjab. At Guru Nanak: Jharkhand 218/7 in 68 ovs (Sharandeep Singh 34, Kumar Kushagra 66 batting, Kumar Suraj 39, Robin Minz 31, Tanay Thyagarajan 3/52, Rohith Rayudu 3/48) vs Hyderabad.