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Madanagopal exudes confidence

Special Correspondent

First division will begin with six first round matches
Jolly Rovers will be without off-spinner R. Ashwin

CHENNAI: The TNCA first division league gets underway here on Wednesday. The competition, featuring 12 teams, will begin with six first round matches.

Holder Grand Slam starts its campaign against the host and newly-promoted Southern Railway Institute. The J.R. Madanagopal-led side pulled off a remarkable triumph last season.

Opener K.B. Arun Karthik was among the runs but his partner of a solid first-wicket combination, X. Thalaivan Sargunam, has joined Globe Trotters.

Grand Slam, however, has depth in its ranks. Suresh Kumar, another top-order batsman, pulled his weight and paceman Palani Amarnath struck at regular intervals. Suresh Kumar chipped in with his off-spin as well.

Combining well

The team combined well, fought hard and was led with imagination by Madanagopal.

“We have lost Thalaivan but J. Prashanth (from IOB) should be a good replacement for him as an opening batsman. We have also got pace-bowling all-rounder K. Sriram who should take the place of Martin Sanjeev who has joined the ICL,” said Madanagopal.

Indeed, there have been a few gains for the side in the inter-club transfers. Pace-bowling all-rounder R. Naresh, who brings with him the variety of a left-armer, should add to the attack. However, Naresh is recovering from an ankle injury and the team will be using him as a batsman during the initial phase.

Madanagopal is confident of retaining the title. “Last year’s victory revolved on preparation and team work. The boys grew in self-belief. The core of the side remains the same.”

Vidyut for Rovers

From the winner to the runner-up. Jolly Rovers will be without valuable off-spinner R. Ashwin, who has shifted to Vijay CC. Rovers, with several of its key cricketers crossing over to the ICL, will seek to rebuild its side. Attacking batsman S. Vidyut and the consistent Subramania Siva have joined Rovers from sister club Alwarpet.

Last season’s semifinalist Vijay will have a new captain in the left-handed batsman R. Prashanth; he takes over from S. Suresh. The side should benefit from Ashwin’s off-spin, particularly during the latter stages of the season when the pitches wear out.

Aruna CC, the other team that had made the semifinals, will seek more runs from S. Anirudha. The top-order batsman scored over 900 runs in the league in the season gone by. The arrival of opener Jesubabu Honeymen from Young Stars and left-arm spinner K.R. Sivaprakash from Globe Trotters should strengthen the batting and the spin department respectively.

Trotters, led by the canny Venugopala Rao, will have batsman Gnaneswara Rao in the side. V. Yomahesh will lead the pace attack. The side will also feature promising off-spinner Sunny Gupta.

India Pistons has signed wicket-keeper batsman K.H. Gopinath (from Indian Bank), while Young Stars has roped in Vikram Mani (from Pistons) and Badri Attavar (from Trotters).

Alwarpet, led by D. Vasu, will have the services of off-spinner Arjun Sarathy (from Indian Bank).

Sharath is skipper

The experienced S. Sharath will captain the newly-promoted UFCC (T. Nagar). All-rounder D.J. Gokulakrishnan makes a return to first division cricket. Leg-spinning all-rounder Shravan Krishnan has joined the side from sister club Vijay.

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