CHENNAI: In the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy season, when a young Mohammed Siraj took the league by storm, Hyderabad topped Elite Group C to enter the quarterfinals. However, they were knocked out by Mumbai in the last-eight stage. Ever since that, the 1988 champions have failed to qualify to the knockouts and were even relegated to the Plate group in 2023.
Now, after a decade, the same Siraj returns with experiences worth 48 Test matches. He will lead a young Hyderabad side for the first two rounds, beginning with Sunday's match against Tripura at the Gymkhana ground in Secunderabad. Tilak Varma is set to be absent for a longer period due to his national team commitments.
After their return to the Elite league in 2024, Hyderabad are yet to make it to the knockouts. After narrowly missing out on a last-eight berth last season, the young squad needed some inspiration. In the off-season, the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) brought some big names like former captain Ambati Rayudu (Director of Cricket Operations) and ten-time Ranji winner Wasim Jaffer (mentor). Additionally Anirudh Singh, who was also Hyderabad captain, replaced DB Ravi Teja as coach. Teja will now coach Hyderabad's U23 team.
Hyderabad are placed in Elite Group B filled with heavyweights like Karnataka, Punjab and Saurashtra. But they seem well prepared. They played two preparatory matches — one an internal match and another against Kerala, where they won at the Gymkhana. Singh, who is content with the preparations, expressed delight with Rayudu's and Jaffer's appointments. "Once he (Rayudu) took over, he got the whole team formed as well as all the structure in place, especially with player selections," Singh told this daily on the eve of Sunday's match.
Jaffer's presence in the team has been valuable for the players and the coach. "Being around and speaking to him, I think there's so much to learn from. The boys are taking so much input from him, how to go about different situations," he added.
The players will also be eager to put on a better show this season. After missing out on outright wins in the first leg of the previous season and losing key matches to Mumbai and Jammu and Kashmir in the second, they hope to iron out a few chinks this season. CV Milind, pacer and vice captain of the team, recalled the brief interaction with Jaffer and Rayudu. "It was all about how we can improve as players. As a team, we want to get the small things right like discipline, punctuality and respect. I'm not saying we weren't disciplined before, but there's more emphasis on these things," he said.
The 32-year-old pacer also opened up on how such small things have cost them wins last season. "The last two years, we were third and fourth. The lack of outright wins kept us away from qualifying in both the seasons. There is a lot of scope and if we tighten up those few things, I think we'll stand a really good chance to qualify.
The goal for the team is clear: to finish in the top-two. "As far as the team and preparations are concerned, we want to take one game at a time. We have identified what we lacked in the previous season. Hopefully this year if we can handle those situations much better, we definitely have a chance to qualify for the knockouts," Anirudh added.
Last three seasons:
2023-24: Plate champions
2024-25: Group stage
2025-26: Group stage
Schedule:
Oct 11: vs Tripura, Secunderabad
Oct 18: vs Andhra, Vizianagaram
Oct 26: vs Punjab, Secunderabad
Nov 2: vs Chhattisgarh, Raipur
Jan 17: vs Assam, Guwahati
Jan 24: vs Karnataka, Secunderabad
Feb 1: vs Saurashtra, Rajkot
Squad for first two matches: Mohammed Siraj (C), CV Milind (VC), Tanmay Agarwal, M Abhirath Reddy, Rahul Singh, K Hima Teja, Rahul Radesh (wk), Sai Pragnay Reddy (wk), Varun Goud, Tanay Thyagrajan, Aniketh Reddy, Clt. Rakshann Readdi, Ajay Dev Goud, Ruthik Yadav Mende, Sai Vikas Reddy
Standbys: Bhavesh Seth (wk), HK Simha, T Ravi Teja, Shaunak Kulkarni, Mudassar Hussain, Kartikeya Kak, A Pruthvi Reddy