Ranji Trophy season: Tamil Nadu eyes maximum points against Himachal

The home side lost its tournament opener to Karnataka which was a close encounter. Tamil Nadu, under Vijay Shankar‘s leadership, did well to stay in the hunt until the fourth day. But the pitch had become too tough to play and it failed to chase 181 in the second innings.

Himachal Pradesh ,too, is coming off a loss at the hands of Saurashtra in its previous game. It put up a sorry performance with the bat mustering only 120 and 182 in its two innings and it wasn’t enough in a low-scoring affair. Its pace bowlers were on song though and it will be interesting to see how they fare in Dindigul where the ball is expected to turn more. The forecast in Dindigul is not so encouraging for this encounter. There might be longer spells of rain on the first day. It will continue to be cloudy for the rest of the game as well with the sun popping out not for long. The teams will hope for the rain to stay away as they need a victory after a poor start to the tournament. Last season, only a solitary match was scheduled at the venue which witnessed only 225 overs over the four days. It was also a flat pitch on offer. However, things might change this time around and the ball is expected to turn with the host boasting of four quality spinners in its line-up. But if the dark clouds continue to hover over the ground, expect the new cherry to swing.