Having made the semi-finals last season, TN had the best intentions to go a step further this time, with a lot of focus put primarily on Ranji Trophy. (PTI and X)
The writing was pretty much on the wall for Tamil Nadu. It was imprinted the moment they lost to Jharkhand and thereby booked a quarterfinals date with Vidarbha in Nagpur. And after four days, the inevitable happened on Tuesday as Vidarbha defeated Tamil Nadu by a massive 198-run margin to confirm another quarterfinal exit. As has been the story forever in Ranji Trophy knockouts, it was with the bat where they lost again on a green top in an away fixture, prolonging their red-ball title drought for another season at least.
Having made the semi-finals last season, TN had the best intentions to go a step further this time, with a lot of focus put primarily on Ranji Trophy. Having remained unbeaten in the first half of the season, it was in the last two matches – when it mattered – that they came up short. And compared to previous performances on green tops, this should hurt TN, as Vidarbha’s lower-order showed better application while batting first. Coming to bat on the second afternoon, TN slid to 38/4 and never recovered, exposing their struggles in the absence of Baba Indrajith.
“It’s been there. It’s not today. It’s been there ever since I started playing,” TN head coach Lakshmipathy Balaji told The Indian Express. “We haven’t cracked the code of how to cross the line in the knockouts. I have been part of three finals apart from a number of semi-finals and quarter-finals. When you keep getting there consistently, you will know how to cross the line. We didn’t make the knockouts for five seasons in a row, and for this group, this is the second successive outing and it has to happen consistently and that’s when you know how to cross the line. If you look at the Mumbai game and this, it is one player who has taken the game away. You need to learn how to overcome those situations, ” Balaji added.
Having chosen to invest in a young crop of batsmen, TN did send them on an exposure trip to the UK, ensuring the batting group remained the same across formats to grow as a pack. But all of it seemed futile in the end, especially if one factors the mode of dismissals. With Indrajith out injured, Vijay Shankar and N Jagadeesan happened to be their most experienced batsmen, but despite tallying 476 and 674 runs, their struggles in the knockouts continued this time. And the young crop, barring Andre Siddarth, crumbled to 225 & 202 in both the innings.
“This season two of them have scored over 600 and two over 400, which is good enough to take you to knockouts. From there on, you need individuals to step up. Six to seven of them are playing their second season and two different classes are coming together. Since they play all formats, they need to adapt, the quicker you reset depending upon the format, quicker you will be able to adapt. We knew what we lacked, which is why we took them to the UK,” Balaji said.
Along the way, they have fought adversities as well, losing several first choice players – Indrajith, Shahrukh Khan, Gurjapneet Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Sonu Yadav, B Sai Sudharsan – to injuries. While their absence was felt more in white-ball, in Ranji they managed it better. And more importantly, for the first time in decades, they went about assembling a pack of fast bowlers. Sans a quality pace pack they have shown a tendency to struggle in away fixtures.
“Take Mumbai or Karnataka, when they do well, they have a good set of pacers and it happens to them because they give them opportunities and over time, they mature as a pack and combine together to perform as a unit. We have found a good crop of fast bowlers this season, including the two teenagers – Pranav Raghavendra and Deepesh – and you have to be patient with them and allow them to develop. You have to give them more chances, create a pool and ensure they stay injury-free. They are all around 23-24, and by 25-26 they mature, so you need to take good care of them. We need to show faith in them,” Balaji said.
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Having assembled a core of young players with the average age of the squad being 23-24 throughout the season, Balaji says the squad will need time. “This core is young, and the learning has been quite fast. It is something which I really like from outside. Results-wise, in cricket and in any sport, you have to go the distance. For this side it is a work in progress and it is not very far. We have just assembled a core and when we reach knockouts, this team should be on autopilot mode – it should know how to close out situations and games. It has to become their comfort zone. I expected a lot more, but it has been a learning experience for me as well,” Balaji added.
