Ranji Campaign: TN braces for tough challenge as key players depart for national duty

CHENNAI: Sai Sudharsan, Washington Sundar, Sai Kishore, and Baba Indrajith, the four mainstays of Tamil Nadu Ranji team who together scored 503 runs in just two innings and took 10 wickets in four in the two matches against Saurashtra and Delhi, are not going to be part of the team for the final home game of the year against Chhattisgarh.

While Washington Sundar received a call-up from the India Test side for the ongoing New Zealand series, Sai Sudharsan, and Baba Indrajith will be part of the India A squad’s tour to Australia starting on October 31. Skipper Sai Kishore, who missed the second game against Delhi, will not be available for the match against Chhattisgarh due to Emerging Teams Asia Cup commitments. Sources told DT Next that he would return for the away match against Assam.

Will it affect Tamil Nadu’s Ranji campaign, considering how crucial they were in trouncing Saurashtra and troubling Delhi? When asked, the team’s batting coach Tanveer Jabbar pointed to the wealth of talent that is available.

“We are not worried that these senior players are not going to be there because we know the talent pool we have. If you want to be a champion side, you are going to have four or five key players who are not going to be there. That is something we have already accepted, and we started planning about this way back when we went on the UK tour,” he told DT Next.

Key batters missing out creates a chance for youngsters like Mohammed Ali, Boopathi Vaishna Kumar, and Andre Siddharth to step up and seize the opportunity to prove their mettle. They can rely on the guidance of seasoned all-rounder Vijay Shankar; coach Jabbar said the senior player is fit for the next game.

“The groundwork of grooming the youngsters in different conditions has already started, and we began training youngsters, the second line of players, who are going to fill big shoes,” he added.

Criticising how domestic red-ball tournaments like the Ranji Trophy were being sidelined for international commitments, cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar had recently said no other cricket powerhouse treats its national tournament as cavalierly as India does.

“Have you ever seen England or Australia hold ‘A’ tours or participate in meaningless events during their domestic seasons? Their domestic seasons are sacrosanct. But ever since the IPL came along, the Ranji Trophy has sadly receded into the background,” he wrote in his column for a sports magazine.

Meanwhile, talking about the immediate future, Jabbar said he was impressed by the effort that the players have put in and their conviction to win. “That is something we want to promote this year as part of the think tank for Tamil Nadu cricket. We are considering each round-robin game as a knockout game and going for maximum points,” he said.

Tamil Nadu was one of the first teams to start its preparations way back in May when a 19-member squad went to the UK. “I don’t think any State in the country has sent a second Ranji Trophy team abroad to gain that experience. The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association’s forethought to plan this way ahead has really helped us,” Jabbar said.