CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Ranji Trophy team led by Vijay Shankar is confident of doing well against Delhi in the Ranji Trophy that begins on Thursday at Assam. The tweaked Ranji format is such that each team will get three games in the league round. So, none of the teams can take any match lightly as only one from each group will move to the next stage.
After a short camp in Chennai for about a week before leaving, Tamil Nadu has had fruitful net sessions in Guwahati where they tried to iron out the flaws. Tamil Nadu will be without the services of M Vijay, Abhinav Mukund and Dinesh Karthik, who are not available for selection, and Washington Sundar, who is injured. However, Shahrukh Khan and Sai Kishore, who were in the standbys for the Indian Team for the West Indies ODIs, have joined the team. Meanwhile, mediumpacer T Natarajan has recovered from injury, but is yet to be declared match fit and is likely to take a fitness test and be ready in time for the second Ranji game.
R Ashwin is preparing to get ready for the Tests against Sri Lanka and is not part of the team.
"We had a short camp in Chennai before coming to Assam. Here at Assam we had good net sessions and our batters had solid batting practice. The weather is hot in the day time and wicket and conditions are good. Since the wickets have been watered, we will have a final look at it and then decide the XI and whether to bat first or not. Either way, our boys are prepared,'' said M Venkataramana, head coach of Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu won the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament and also reached the final of Vijay Hazare Trophy. Many youngsters, who did well in those tournaments, have been named in the Ranji squad. They have won the Ranji Trophy only twice in the history of the tournament, so there is pressure on this young squad to have a crack at the title.
"The new Ranji format is such that even if you lose one game you cannot make it to the next stage. So, our main focus is to play positive brand of cricket and take one session at a time. We need to put runs on the board for our bowlers to get good purchase. So, the plan will be to bat well and put pressure on the opponents. We will not be averse to playing five bowlers. Having said that, Delhi has always been one of the stronger sides from the North Zone. They have a couple of quality players in their ranks. So, we will not take them lightly,'' said the former NCA bowling coach.
Vijay and Mukund were a solid opening pair for Tamil Nadu across formats. With the duo not available, they experimented with various combinations before N Jagadeesan and B Aparajith coming good in the white-ball tournaments this season. While there were suggestions that Aparajith, who has a good technique could be drafted in as an opener, it seems like things have changed since they reached Assam. "Openers have a big role to play in the new Ranji format.
It is hard to get replacements for Vijay and Abhinav. During the first camp we had after the team was announced, we thought that we can use Aparajith as an opener. But, now after coming to Assam and seeing the conditions the opening pair will be from L Suryapprakash, M Kaushik Gandhi and V Ganga Sridhar Raju. Aparajith will bat at No 3 or 4. Jagadeesan will bat in the middle order. We have to ensure that there is good batting depth and the order will be based on that,'' revealed the former India off spinner.
Delhi has the likes of Nitish Rana, Yash Dhull in their ranks. With the added experience of Pradeep Sangwan and Navadeep Saini, they are capable of upsetting the best team in the business. "As I said earlier, we will not take any team lightly. We also have a good attack. Sandeep Warrier, Mohammed, Sarvana Kumar, Vijay Shankar and Sai Kishore can do their job. Plus Aparajith's bowling also will come in handy,'' signed off a confident Venkataramana.