The Hindu : Tamil Nadu keen to break the jinx

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 14, 2004

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Tamil Nadu keen to break the jinx

By Our Sports Reporter

CHENNAI, MARCH 13. In recent times Tamil Nadu has been a formidable contender, but not quite a finisher. It emerged runner-up on two occasions and was semi-finalist in '99-00. Skipper S. Suresh, who led the side with gumption to the final last season, is keen on breaking the jinx.

There is also a sense of déjà vu attached to the side's five-day semifinal against Railways, beginning at the Chidambaram Stadium here on Sunday. Especially for the home team's coach B. Arun, who was part of S. Vasudevan's squad that beat Hyder Ali's Railways in the 1987-88 final, the only other time the Trophy came to the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association.

Will this be a season of triumph? Well, the side has come within striking distance once more.

The home team has opted for the square, which has a shade of grass on it. Suresh believes that the toss will be crucial. "Considering the duration, the match will be result-oriented. The heat is a factor. If you bat first and put up a sizeable score, it will be difficult for the opposition to chase, especially after having been on the field for, say, two days," felt the skipper.

Tamil Nadu has a strong batting line-up, which runs deep. S. Badrinath and S. Sharath have collected 574 and 456 runs each while left-handers S. Ramesh and S. Sriram possess the ability to change the course of a contest almost single-handedly.

Young D. Tamilkumaran will spearhead the attack. Suresh said the think-tank hadn't decided yet whether to go in with three seamers or two. The spin department, however, lacks variety and will rely largely on left-arm spinner R. Ramkumar, who has had a rewarding season so far.

Railways, led by Sanjay Bangar, has been in the city for nine days now. Coach Vinod Sharma is of the opinion that the teams are evenly matched in batting while his side has an edge in bowling.

The 2002 champion has two good off-spinners in Kulamani Parida and Shreyas Kanolkar while left-arm spinner Madan Yadav will play only if the side wants to go in with an extra bowler. Mediumpacer Harvinder Singh has taken 30 wickets so far; sharing the new ball with him will be all-rounder J.P. Yadav, with Bangar coming on one change.

Left-hander T.P. Singh and Bangar have scored over 500 runs already. Three seasons ago, Bangar shattered Tamil Nadu's hopes in the quarterfinals with a double hundred. This time Tamil Nadu has the home advantage.

The teams:

Tamil Nadu (from): S. Suresh (Capt.), S. Ramesh, S. Sriram, S. Badrinath, S. Sharath, K.D. Kaarthick (wk), R. Ramkumar, S. Vidyut, D. Tamilkumaran, C. Ganapathy, K. Shri Vasudeva Das, Sunil Viswanathan, R. Naresh, Jesuraj and Petson Mathews. Coach: B. Arun.

Railways (from): S. Bangar (Capt.), Harvinder Singh, J.P. Yadav, A. Pagnis, T.P. Singh, Y. Goud, R. Ali, S. Verma, S. Kanolkar, S. Wankhede (wk), K. Parida, Z. Hussain, M. Yadav and S. Sahu. Coach: Vinod Sharma.

Umpires: S.K. Sharma (Mumbai) and V.K. Chopra (Delhi). Match referee: S.R. Bose (Kol).

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport

News Update

Stories in this Section

Cricket

India wins a humdinger

Support dilemma

Oram reaches maiden century

Butcher, Hussain help England recover

Tamil Nadu keen to break the jinx

Tennis

Dev Varman in final

Davenport posts facile victory

Hockey

Pakistan lands bronze

Athletics

TN team for Fed Cup

Chess

Bakre becomes GM