Team for a dream: That’s the Mantra for TN this domestic season

CHENNAI: Over the past 18 months, as many as six Tamil Nadu players - R Ashwin, M Vijay, Dinesh Karthik, Vijay Shankar, Washington Sundar and Abhinav Mukund have played for India across the three formats.
While the success of these players augurs well for the stakeholders of the game in the state, it unfortunately didn’t reflect in the Tamil Nadu team’s performance in domestic competitions last season.
Tamil Nadu were eliminated from the group stages of Ranji Trophy, having failed to win any of their six matches, and faltered miserably in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament too.
The likes of R Ashwin, Murali Vijay and Dinesh Karthik might have come up with notable individual performances whenever they donned the TN jersey last season but the players couldn’t click as a unit when it really mattered.
Having learnt their lessons the hard way, playing as a team is the mantra for Tamil Nadu going forward. Starting Thursday, the Hrishikesh Kanitkar-coached side will aim to make amends when they kick off their domestic season this year with a Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Gujarat at Chepauk.
While the target will be to regain the Vijay Hazare Trophy — a tournament they won two seasons back — and win the T20 tournament, the ultimate goal will be to win the Ranji Trophy, a title they won 31 seasons back.
Former India pacer and TN bowling coach L Balaji said that during the 1-week preseason camp the TN team management has emphasised on creating a dressing-room atmosphere where each players would enjoy each other’s success.
“The focus is to perform as a team. We have emphasised on the attitude of the players this season. We will need to create a proper dressing-room atmosphere where each player would have others’ back. This year, we have a lot of talented players with different skill sets but they need to look at things from team’s perspective. The players should own the dressing room and the brand of cricket Tamil Nadu is famous for. Things should start and end with TN cricket. If we can do that, it will indirectly meet the goals of the individuals like earning a national call-up or an IPL contract,” Balaji told TOI on Tuesday.
What also hurt TN is the inconsistency of their batsmen last season. While the Baba brothers — Aparajith and Indrajith, did have a good season with the bat, Abhinav and Kaushik Gandhi’s form dipped as the season progressed.
It will then be time for TN batsmen to make amends, especially for Abhinav who has been out of the Test side for over a year now. The situation is similar for TN limited-overs captain Vijay Shankar.
Often troubled by injuries, the allrounder will hope that he can remain fit throughout the season so that he can stake his claim in the Indian side again.
The season will also open up a huge opportunity for N Jagadeesan in the absence of India wicket-keeper Karthik. “The likes of Vijay, Karthik and Ashwin might not be playing regularly due to their national team commitments.
So the other players should take up the cudgels. Back in my days, 10 guys would fight for a spot. But things are different now.
These players get plenty of opportunities. But then, they take their places for granted. They need to understand that had these India team players been there, playing for Tamil Nadu would have still been a distant dream for them. So the players need to earn these spots and respect the TN cap,” Balaji said.
Tamil Nadu will also aim to come good in the bowling department too.
The side often let their rivals off the hook last season due to the inability of the bowlers to wipe off the opposition tail. Pacer K Vignesh, who performed consistently last season, has shown good form in the recently-concluded Duleep Trophy and will want to take the momentum forward.
TN will also be boosted by the return of a fit-again left-arm pacer T Natarajan, who missed the last season entirely. TN though will be without the injured offie Washington in Vijay Hazare, meaning the spin department which was quite ineffective last year, will rely on Sai Kishore, Rahil Shah and newbie CV Varun. “We will be starting from the scratch.
The bowlers have been made aware of their responsibilities and they won’t be carrying any expectations or baggage when they enter the field tomorrow. We have a lot of options in bowling this season. Sharun and Varun will add more spice to the attack.
T Natarajan will be back for us this season and has shown good form. So has K Vignesh in the Duleep Trophy. So it’s a good mix. But again, we have to perform as a unit,” said Balaji.