CHENNAI: For once this season Tamil Nadu's batting depth came to the fore as the visitors riding on the good work by SR Athish (88) and Sonu Yadav (74) made 316 in 88.2 overs against Odisha on the third day of the Ranji Trophy played at Cuttack on Saturday. Set a target of 445 for a win Odisha were 47 for 2 in 15.3 overs in their second essay.
"Pleased with the target we have set. Considering the conditions (dew) and wicket (still aiding pacers), it is a stiff target to overcome for Odisha. But I would like my bowlers not to be overconfident and bowl wicket to wicket, keep it tight," said M Senthilnathan, Tamil Nadu red-ball coach after the day's play.
Apart from Athish and Yadav, G Ajitesh (49) and Sai Kishore (40) made useful contributions.
On Saturday morning, P Viduth was the first to go without making much noise, soon Pradosh Ranjan Paul perished after hitting a couple of boundaries. C Andre Siddarath struggled to find his rhythm and was out for just 1 to Biplab. Ajitesh was judicious in his shot selection and thus made 49.
"Batting depth is there no doubt. But I feel they could have converted those 50s, 80's into 100s. See, unless the batter starts getting 100, it's a habit. You can't keep getting 70s and 80s. Even in the first innings, Athish got 50, Pradosh got 78. They all threw away their wickets. As far as I am concerned, okay, fine it's a collective team effort but they must learn to convert their starts into big scores,'' opined Senthilnathan.
But what put Tamil Nadu in a position of strength was the century stand between Yadav and Sai Kishore. The duo raised 102 runs in 83 balls for the eighth wicket. Both complemented each in their stroke play. Yadav was the aggressive of the duo scoring boundaries at will. In fact his 75-ball 74 runs contained five sixes and four boundaries.
"It is a good effort from Sonu with both bat and ball. I expect him to be more consistent with both bat and ball. He has played a few games and has not been that consistent. I would like him to chip in all the games that he plays and not just click in one game and fail in the rest. We are trusting him so much for the all-rounder's role. He has the potential and must channelise his energies towards it. I mean, be more consistent. Look every time I don't expect him to take 5 wickets, or 7 wickets and score 50 runs. We look at him as an all-rounder. He should take 2-3 wickets and make 40-50 runs in three out of five games. Consistency should be there,'' said Senthilnathan.
The coach also spoke on dismissals of the Tamil Nadu batters. "You see even the Odisha batters have been out leg before. You see in the morning the ball skids through on the stump line because of dew. There is dense fog early in the morning and thus dew. Our batters applied better overall and that's why we are in a good position," said Senthilnathan.
Odisha have lost two wickets in their second essay and with conditions not favourable in the morning they have a tough task on Sunday. "Evening is the best time to bat and our bowlers got two wickets. It was a good job. On Sunday I expect them to bowl a disciplined line and length and use the conditions to their advantage. When the wicket is helping, one needs to keep it simple and tight. Hope to see them exploit the conditions to the hilt," signed off Senthilnathan.