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Tamil Nadu high on confidence

K.C. Vijaya Kumar

Both the batsmen and bowlers have been in good form

The Tamil Nadu batsmen have scored 13 centuries so far
Manoj Tiwary will be crucial to Bengal’s fortunes

SHOWING THE WAY: Tamil Nadu skipper Dinesh Karthik has led from the front with three hundreds so far this season.

BANGALORE: Tamil Nadu returns to a venue where its most-recent memory is a pleasant one. Last month, powered by K.B. Arun Karthik and Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan’s hundreds, the team posted 531 to shut host Karnataka out of the contest at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

However, as the squad geared up for the Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Bengal commencing here on Friday, Tamil Nadu coach W.V. Raman was a picture of guarded optimism.

“It is a crucial match and we believe we can put it past them. It’s strange, though, that a knock-out phase match like this is a four-day affair. In case you have a bad session, there is hardly any time for recovery,” Raman said.

Centuries galore

Tamil Nadu comes into this decisive match high on confidence and runs as its batsmen have piled up 13 centuries in the Super League stage.

Skipper Dinesh Karthik (3), Abhinav Mukund (3), S. Badrinath (2), K.B. Arun Karthik (2), M. Vijay (1), Vidyut (1) and R. Ashwin (1) have all meant business.

The team has received a fillip with Badrinath and Vijay returning to the squad. According to Raman, Vijay will replace Arun Karthik.

Tamil Nadu topped Group ‘B’ with 23 points and on the lone occasion when its batsmen faltered briefly against Baroda, seamers L. Balaji and Palani Amarnath fashioned a facile victory.

On the other hand, Bengal, having emerged from the Plate Division, has nothing to lose and would fancy its chances.

“Our batting has been good, we need to come up with big knocks,” said Bengal captain L.R. Shukla.

Inconsistent

Bengal has often looked to wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha to do the rescue act while the talented Manoj Tiwary, despite the hundreds against Tripura and Assam, is yet to perform consistently.

The bowling has relied on the seam duo of Ranadeb Bose and Ashok Dinda and on a flat deck which, according to curator Narayan Raju will gradually aid spin, the tweakers of both teams need to come good in this do-or-die match.

The teams (from):

Tamil Nadu: Dinesh Karthik (Capt.), M. Vijay, Abhinav Mukund, K.B. Arun Karthik, S. Badrinath, S. Vidyut, S. Suresh Kumar, R. Ashwin, C. Suresh, L. Balaji, C. Ganapathy, V. Yomahesh, P. Amarnath, R. Prasanna and K.H. Gopinath.

Bengal: L.R. Shukla (Capt.), Rohan Banerjee, Manoj Tiwary, Wriddhiman Saha, Arindam Das, Avik Chowdhury, Ashok Dinda, Ritam Kundu, Sourav Sarkar, Dibyendu Chakrabarty, Ranadeb Bose, Iresh Saxena, Shreevats Goswami and Avik Mallick.

Umpires: Sudhir Kumar Asnani and K.K. Hariharan; Match referee: Sanjay Patil.

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