CHENNAI: DT Chandrasekar, T Natarajan, N Jagadeesan and a host of other district cricketers from Tamil Nadu got recognition, thanks to the efforts of B Ramprakash, who was the state senior committee selector for the districts of TNCA. A couple of months back Ramprakash resigned as selector to take over the post of Kerala under-23 coach. Kerala Cricket Association chose to have Ramprakash for his ability to identify and nurture talent.
“The fact that I was able to spot talent from the districts in Tamil Nadu and guide them made me the coach of Kerala U-23 side. They wanted a coach at this level because the authorities found a huge gap between under-19 and the state level. I’m keen to contribute in moulding youngsters,” said B Ramprakash, former Kerala Ranji player.
According to the coach, the team has good talent but lacks exposure. “Tournaments like Buchi Babu will give our boys the much-needed exposure, as they compete against best teams in the country. But I’m confident that the boys will do well with experience,’’ added the 50-year-old.
Speaking of exposure, Ramprakash is of the opinion that Kerala players have benefited from playing the TNCA league for several decades. Right from KN Ananthapadmanabhan, Tinu Yohannan, S Sreesanth, Sreekumar Nair to Basil Thampi, all have played the league here and honed their skills. But he also feels that it’s high time Kerala improve the quality of their leagues.
“The structure in Kerala is not the same as it is here. I have personally seen several players benefiting from playing the TNCA league. I have asked the KCA to make sure that many youngsters avail opportunity to play in these leagues. At the same time, we must also better the quality of league cricket in Kerala, since all the players cannot move to Chennai,” said Ramprakash. Sanju Samson, who is playing for Kerala under -23 side, is the biggest hope for the state since the days of Sreesanth. “Sanju is a talented player. We are happy with the hard work and effort from the youngster. He has improved his wicketkeeping skills and we are confident that he will have a good domestic season,” opined Ramprakash.
Sanju Samson, on the other hand, believes that the South Africa A tour was rewarding and has given him good experience. “The South Africa tour was a great exposure, where I got to work on my technique. It’s disappointing to not feature in Duleep Trophy. But I will work hard and prove my worth in Ranji,” said Sanju.
Brief scores: At IC–GN: Kerala 102 in 42 ovs (Rohan S Kunnummel 53; Malolan Rangarajan 6/17) lost to TNCA President’s XI 103/4 in 36.4 ovs (B Aparajith 44 no, MS Washington Sundar 41). Points: TNCA President’s XI 4; Kerala 0; At SSN: Haryana vs TNCA Districts XI (First day’s play washed out due to wet outfield); At CPT–IP: TNCA XI 339/9 in 90 ovs (K Mukunth 76, B Anirudh Sita Ram 90, K Vishal Vaidhya 85; Karan Pawar 4/74) vs Baroda; At Murugappa: UPCA 293 in 64 ovs (Samarth Singh 65, Akshdeep Nath 124 no; Sumit Ruikar 5/102) vs Chhattisgarh 9/1 in 3.1 ovs.