The Hindu : Sport : TN strikes a confident note

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 09, 2005

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TN strikes a confident note

By Our Sports Reporter

PANAJI, JAN. 8. Hyderabad, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka — the big three in the South Zone — will hope for a touch of sunshine, good form and some slices of luck as they chase success in the Subbaiah Pillai Trophy limited-overs tournament commencing at Panaji and Madgaon on Sunday.

Defending champion Tamil Nadu, led by S. Sriram, has a clutch of talented players, but the absence of the injured Hemang Badani and L. Balaji and the omission of Sadagopan Ramesh might prove crucial.

"We will miss the three players but we are keen to play well. We are taking it match by match and we are not putting any undue pressure on ourselves just because we are the defending champions," said Sriram.

Tamil Nadu, however, has Sriram, the reliable S. Sharath and Suresh in its ranks and with wicketkeeper Dinesh Kaarthick also chipping in the team will hope for some good runs on the board.

Seamers Jesuraj, M.R. Shrinivas and left-arm spinner Ram Kumar along with Sriram and Suresh will have to strike in tandem to ensure that the trophy stays in the TNCA cupboard.

Laxman indisposed

Tamil Nadu's close rivals, Hyderabad and Karnataka, have their own set of problems. Hyderabad will miss skipper V.V.S. Laxman, who is down with fever and will skip the first two matches, while Karnataka, after a below-par Ranji season that yielded just six points, needs to get over its run of poor form.

Arjun Yadav will lead Hyderabad in Laxman's absence and will be banking on seasoned opener Daniel Manohar, D. Vinay Kumar and A.T. Rayudu to keep the scoreboard ticking. In the absence of the recently retired Venkatapathy Raju, the Hyderabad attack may miss that touch of experience but assistant coach Vivek Jaisimha believes that his team has the resources to continue with its good run in the Ranji Trophy that yielded a semifinal berth. Besides as Jaisimha said, "Laxman will be back after two matches and that will be a big boost."

Karnataka, led by Sujith Somasundar, has struggled throughout the season, though Barrington Rowland, Thilak Naidu and to a certain extent Robin Uthappa had their moments. The bowling, helmed by seniors Dodda Ganesh and Sunil Joshi and ably supported by rookie seamers Vinay Kumar and N.C. Aiyappa, has done well and the quartet will be hoping that the batsmen do their jobs adequately.

Dangerous opposition

The big three States may eye the trophy but Andhra and Kerala can be dangerous floaters, while host Goa is itching to prove a point. Andhra, led by M.S.K. Prasad, has in brothers Y. Venugopala Rao and Y. Gnaneswara Rao two youngsters who can change the tide, while Kerala, despite a lacklustre outing in the Ranji Trophy Plate division, is the runner-up of last year's tournament held in Chennai.

Sreekumar Nair's men, however, are hamstrung by the absence of Sujith Somasundar and C. Hemant Kumar, who as out-station players bolstered the Kerala challenge last year.

Meanwhile, host Goa, considered the whipping boys of South Zone, showed glimpses of potential with an upset victory over Karnataka in the last edition. And in that context the Goan coach S. Pednekar's words, "we want to fight well against bigger teams", is a warning note to other teams.

Sunday's matches: Tamil Nadu vs Goa, Karnataka vs Hyderabad and Andhra vs Kerala.

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