TN eyes second win as skipper Sai returns against Assam
In the previous game, the team struggled to match the gigantic total set by Chhattisgarh in the first innings and was forced to follow-on.
Image from the match
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu will be pushing hard for a decisive win after two consecutive draws when it takes on Assam in a Group D Ranji Trophy match at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati from Wednesday.
This time around however, it will benefit immensely from the ‘towering’ presence of skipper R Sai Kishore, who missed the last two games as he was away with the India Emerging Asia Cup T20 squad in Oman.
In the previous game, the team struggled to match the gigantic total set by Chhattisgarh in the first innings and was forced to follow-on. But the batters showed resilience in the second innings with senior players Vijay Shankar (106), N Jagadeesan (60) rising to the occasion besides a valuable unbeaten 39-run knock from Pradosh Ranjan Paul that helped the team to wipe off a 241-run deficit and salvage a draw and earn a point.
In this fourth round, it will be up against Assam, which is at the bottom of the Group D pile. The host is coming into this game after a 10-wicket loss against Delhi thanks to the performance of Delhi pacers and the heroics of batter Sumit Mathur, who notched a crucial ton in the first innings.
On the other side, Tamil Nadu, fourth in the table, will still miss Sai Sudharsan and Baba Indrajith in the top-order. It was evident in the match against Chhattisgarh when it failed to capitalise on a good start in the first innings. And the experimental combination of Suresh Lokeshwar alongside Jagadeesan at the top did not work in both innings as the former got out in single digit on both the occasions.
However, the team management’s decision to bring in youngster Andre Siddarth up the order worked to an extent as the youngster partnered with Jagadeesan to build a good partnership at the start.
With the ball, Ajith Ram will have his partner Sai helping him from the other to tackle the Assam unit where wicket-keeper batter Sumit Ghadigaonkar looks in solid form. In the match against Delhi, he scored 162 and an unbeaten 76 shepherding his side’s batting unit solely.
