Vijay Hazare: TN hopes to go one step better

CHENNAI: After finishing runner-up in the previous edition, Tamil Nadu will look to go one step better in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (50 overs), which will begin on Saturday at various centres.

The Baba Indrajith-led Tamil Nadu has been placed in Group C along with Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Haryana, Bihar and Arunachal Pradesh. Tamil Nadu will play its first-round matches at different venues in Bengaluru. The southern team will begin its campaign against Bihar at the Alur Cricket Stadium Ground 3 on Saturday.

Having bowed out in the opening round of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (20 overs), Tamil Nadu, considered as one of the white-ball powerhouses in the country, will be eager for a change of fortunes. Besides first-timer NS Chaturved, Narayan Jagadeesan, L Suryapprakash and B Sai Sudharsan are the top-order batters.

The Baba twins, Indrajith and Aparajith, make up the middle-order while big hitters Shahrukh Khan and Sanjay Yadav are the designated finishers. The pace pack consists of Sandeep Warrier, R Silambarasan and M Mohammed, with the spin department comprising left-armers R Sai Kishore and Manimaran Siddharth. Sonu Yadav and J Kousik will be the pace-bowling all-rounders in the team.