CHENNAI: After finishing on the right end of a thrilling heist against Karnataka in the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, TN coach M Venkataramana, was naturally thrilled. “It was a brilliant show by the boys,” he said. “They played as a unit, backed each other and there was never a dull moment on the field. Full credit to the boys for the way they played in the tournament. They deserve this victory,’’ he said.
Tamil Nadu’s chase was tricky as they lost wickets at regular intervals. As the asking rate went high, there was huge pressure. And, naturally, Venkataramana would have preferred an early end. “I would have been happy had we finished off a little earlier. But it happens (match going to the last over) when you are playing a final, the pressure is too high. The problem was that in the middle overs. Batters were not able to get boundaries. But we never lost hope, the team was determined to fight till the end,’’ explained the former India spinner.
On Shahrukh Khan, the finisher who hit a last ball six to help TN prevail, Venkataramana was all praise. “I told the boys we will fight till the last and that anything can happen in T20 and none should lose self-belief. As long as Shahkrukh was there, we knew that we stood a good chance. We wanted him to get a lot more strike. But that last ball six was just incredible,’’ complimented the former NCA coach. The former TN spinner believes teamwork and players utilising the opportunities they got helped them in the campaign.
“We excelled as a unit. The boys, whenever they got an opportunity, did well. Murugan Ashwin was in good in a game. In the semifinal, Saravana Kumar bowled really well. Sai Sudarshan was good in a couple of games. N Jagadeesan was outstanding behind the stumps and also gave us good starts. So it was team work that helped us in every stage,’’ he said adding TNPL helped the players understand T20 better.
A title triumph always throws up positives. Last time TN won the SMA trophy more than a dozen players got IPL contracts. “The biggest positive was the way Vijay Shankar led by example. He played several crucial knocks.”