For someone who has graduated to the senior level with a lot of reputation from age-group cricket, Andre Siddarth (18) admitted that his unbeaten 94-ball 115 (15x4, 4x6) in a fourth-innings chase of 219 on a tricky pitch versus Gujarat in the third round of the Buchi Babu All India invitational cricket tournament here on Thursday is an important knock in his career.
His hundred came, in his own words, on “a tough wicket where the ball turned well with uneven bounce” against bowlers of Ranji Trophy standard at the Salem Cricket Foundation (SCF) ground. On top of it, his team, TNCA President’s XI, had to win the match to qualify for the semifinals.
TNCA, having sensed that playing positively was the best approach on the wicket, sent in the flamboyant Siddarth at No. 3 and he fearlessly obliged.
“They asked me not to worry and play my natural (attacking) game. I didn’t think too much, didn’t put a price on my wicket,” he said after his team’s five-wicket win.
In fact, he said that the TNCA batters had been instructed to score at the rate of at least four runs an over in both the innings. Siddarth came in at No. 7 in TNCA’s first innings and made an unbeaten 55 (62b, 8x4, 1x6). Despite conceding a 160-run first-innings lead, his team decided to stick with the same batting approach in the chase and wrapped up the match with nearly a session and a day to spare.
This player-of-the match performance was especially uplifting for Siddarth, who “was a bit down” after his below-par maiden Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) season with Chepauk Super Gillies (CSG) this year.
“I didn’t have a good TNPL. I felt I could have done better. So, mentally, I shifted to a different zone by taking a break from cricket for a few days. And then, I began using my takeaways from TNPL, as to what I can do better, in my practice. It has shown results on the ground.”
Asked if he had to do any specific preparation for switching to red-ball cricket, he said, “I felt I had to slightly suppress my natural (attacking) instinct a bit and play. That’s the mindset I came in with.”
But ironically, his team ended up invoking his quick-scoring style of play!
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