Long lost in the history of the tournament’s roll of honour, former champions Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra will seek to redeem their fortunes in the Ranji Trophy semifinal beginning at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.
Tamil Nadu, which last won in the 1987-88 season, has finished runner-up five times since and Maharashtra that had its last triumph in 1940-41 would be seeking to realise it this time after ending up second-best last season.
Tamil Nadu will look to use the recent experience of playing at the same venue last month and continue the good form it has shown this season. “Both teams are equally provided. It all depends on who handles the pressure better and gets on top in the match,” said coach W.V. Raman.
“The team that can sustain the intensity for five days will prevail,” added Raman after reviewing the pitch, which he said looked firm and nice.
The introspective mood in the Tamil Nadu camp was apparently prompted by the form and fitness of the Maharashtra’s pace bowling quartet — Samad Fallah, Anupam Sanklecha, Domnic Joseph and Shrikant Mundhe — which has accounted for 114 wickets in nine matches.
“Our bowling has been outstanding so far. We have a lot of confidence on our bowlers as they have shown the ability to defend any total,” said Maharashtra’s Australian coach David Andrews.
Super showAndrews’s confidence stems from his team’s showing against Andhra in the quarterfinals. Batting first, Maharashtra was bundled out for 91 but its bowlers redeemed the frailty of the batsmen and ensured a 75-run win in the end. Sanklecha had a match haul of eight for 64 while Fallah scalped five for 78. “There is no doubt that Maharashtra has some of the best pacers in business and that gives the team the edge,” said Andrews.
Tamil Nadu has a potent batting line-up led by Murali Vijay. Dinesh Karthik, captain A. Mukund, B. Indrajith and the young Vijay Shankar have given strength to the team’s batting.
Raman hoped for a good outing from Vijay saying that he has “put behind the World Cup selection and his non-selection” and is looking forward to the match. He also praised Vijay Shankar, saying that the player has done pretty well in the middle-order and has the talent to scale greater heights.
Tamil Nadu’s problem area remains its pace department. L. Balaji and Prasanth Parameswaran have taken 11 and nine wickets only.
Aswin Crist, who was called up for the last two matches to spruce up the pace attack, has scalped nine wickets. Raman said he will have to “sit and think” before finalising the bowling combination.
The teams (from):
Tamil Nadu: Abhinav Mukund (capt.), M. Vijay, U. Sushil, B. Aparajith, Dinesh Karthik, R. Prasanna, B. Indrajith, Vijay Shankar, Malolan Rangarajan, Rahil Shah, L. Balaji, L. Vignesh, Aushik Srinivas, Prasanth Parameswaran, M. Shahrukh Khan and Aswin Crist.
Maharashtra: Swapnil Gugale, Harshad Khadiwale, Rohit Motwani (capt., w.k.), Kedar Jadhav, Ankit Bawne, Rahul Tripathi, Chirag Khurana, Shrikant Mundhe, Anupam Sanklecha, Domnic Muthuswami, Samad Fallah, Akshay Darekar, Sangram Atitkar, Nikhit Dhumal and Naushad Shaikh.
