CHENNAI: After Ishan Kishan's 173 that took Jharkhand to 419, Tamil Nadu got off to a shocking start as they were reduced to 18/5 on the second day of the Ranji Trophy match played in Coimbatore.
Tamil Nadu head coach M Senthilnathan called it a "wake-up call" as the top-order batters fell like a pack of cards. He said that the batters went for the shots rather than trying to stay in the crease. "...suddenly, when we batted, our batting was a massive collapse; 18/5. No one expected it. I think probably they were trying to play the shots or something like that. They were in a hurry to get the runs. Probably they could have just waited till tea. Probably they could have held the crease. They didn't do it. But still, it's the first game, learning now. So we need to see how much we can save this game from here," said Senthilnathan.
By the time stumps were drawn after rain interruption, RS Ambrish and M Shahrukh Khan were in the middle. "This is the wake-up call for everybody. So we will all come strong. We expect Shahrukh Khan and Ambrish to put some runs on the board on Friday. No other choice. We have to apply ourselves and see how far we can go. That's the most important thing," head coach said.
Meanwhile, Jharkhand head coach Sunny Gupta attributed the success to the club cricket playing experience in TNCA league. "I have played a lot of club cricket in Chennai. I know most of them (TN players). It helped a little bit and made us have the edge. I know their (Tamil Nadu) strengths, where they are very good at. So, that helped us plan better," revealed Gupta.
Gupta revealed that his team's plan was to first put some runs on the board and then apply pressure on the hosts. "Things have so far gone as per plan. First, we managed to put up some runs thanks to Ishan. It was a special innings from him where he displayed controlled aggression. When he went inside, it was a tough situation to go in. Good thing about him is he played the first 50 balls carefully and then it was aggression which was totally controlled. From the way he played, we will be in a position of strength," complimented Sunny.
Jatin Pandey and Sahil Raj picked up five wickets among themselves with their military medium-pace to rattle the hosts top order. "Our bowlers are used to these conditions. On this kind of wickets, we have exploited better (in the past) and that experience came in handy," insisted Sunny. The former Delhi Daredevils player had an interesting tale to say that these bowlers took a cue from Gurjapneet Singh's (4/71) bowling and exploited the surface to the hilt.
"We saw Gurjapneet bowl, he was effective. He was really hitting the deck with a straight seam, he was hitting the head. We got to know that on this wicket to release the ball just like that we want to have much purchase. We have to use the seam of the ball in order to get lateral movement like how Gurujapneet got. Out bowlers were spot on in using the seam of the ball effectively and thus got good purchase," Gupta said.
