Following the flight of the ball as it disappears into the stands is not a pleasant experience for a bowler. In fact, it can be demoralising.
In the second edition of the India Cements-TNPL, some unsung batsmen did dismiss the ball with contemptuous ease over the ropes even as IPL scouts watched.
Power hitting, on a consistent basis, was an aspect missing from the inaugural TNPL last year.
This time around we had big boys such as Washington Sundar blasting the ball for sixes. Some lesser known cricketers too made an impression with their striking prowess.
Vivek Raj, who turned out for Dindigul Dragons, plays in the TNCA league second division but is a first rate hitter of the ball.
He has a presence at the crease — that air of confidence — and has this ability to get under the ball for those rousing bottom-handed hits.
Albert Tuti Patriots coach J.R. Madanagopal said to The Hindu , “If the bowler misses, he is clearing the ground. He is so strong between long-on and square-leg. Vivek Raj is the kind of batsman who puts pressure on the bowler.”
Surfacing lower down the order, Vivek Raj notched up 124 runs but his display was not about numbers. He biffed 11 sixes, made a difference.
The left-handed M. Shahjahan is a clean striker of the ball with a nice back swing. The southpaw was a key man in the Karaikudi Kaalai middle-order, easing the ball over the fence.
Madanagopal said, “He can send the ball over long-off for the maximum. Shahjahan is so calm and cool in the end overs.”
While the more experienced S. Aniruda put together several attacking innings under pressure, Shahjahan dumped the ball to the distant corners in the end overs.
What both Shahjahan — he gathered 209 runs with a whopping 17 sixes — and Vivek Raj might need to learn in the days ahead is to rotate the strike even when they are not able to land those weighty blows.
Lyca Kovai Kings’ wicketkeeper-batsman R. Rohith’s electric 46-ball unbeaten 102 in the chase — he finished the contest with successive sixes — in the Eliminator against the Kaalais was a lot about innovation and bat-speed. This talented batsman bludgeoned eight sixes.
Promising pacemen
Two younger pacemen who caught the eye were both slingers — Athisayaraj Davidson of Patriots and R. Silambarasan of VB Thiruvallur Veerans. Both have quick-arm actions, can send down effective yorkers but Silambarasan is a yard or two quicker.
Madanagopal said, “Athisayaraj moves it around, can take out batsmen with the new ball. Silambarasan does the damage in the middle and end overs.”
Among the spinners, left-armer Ganesh Moorthy of Patriots — he fires them in with the new ball from wide of the crease — impressed while fulfilling his specific role in the PowerPlay overs.
The quality of fielding in the TNPL, however, needed to improve.
