Ranji Trophy 2023-24: Experienced Tamil Nadu starts campaign against Gujarat

Ranji Trophy 2023-24: Tamil Nadu has a strong batting unit led by B. Sai Sudharsan, who made his India debut last month and Praodsh Ranjan Paul, who got a century for India A in South Africa recently.

FILE PHOTO: B. Sai Sudharsan of Tamil Nadu in action. | Photo Credit: V.V. Subrahmanyam/The Hindu

In a battle of contrasting but evenly matched sides, Gujarat takes on Tamil Nadu in the first round of the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy season (Elite Group C) here at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel stadium on Friday.

Both sides haven’t done well in the country’s premier domestic tournament recently, with the home team failing to qualify for the knockouts in the last two years. TN’s record is even worse, having last qualified for the quarterfinals in 2016-17 when Gujarat won its maiden Ranji Trophy title.

The hosts - led by new skipper Chintan Gaja - have a relatively inexperienced batting lineup and will rely on former skipper Priyank Panchal to guide the youngsters. Gujarat won the under-25 tournament last year, and Gaja said the team is banking on young batters like Aarya Desai, Sunpreet Bagga and Kshitij Patel, who have come through the ranks.

What it lacks in batting strength, it makes up for in the bowling attack led by pacers Gaja, Arzan Nagwaswalla and the young Shen Patel, with leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi adding teeth to the spin department.

Tamil Nadu, in contrast, has a strong batting unit led by B. Sai Sudharsan, who made his India debut last month and Praodsh Ranjan Paul, who got a century for India A in South Africa recently. The experienced B. Indrajith, Vijay Shankar and Washington Sundar offer a strong middle-order. Promising left-handed batter B. Sachin could also make his debut.

However, a lot will depend on how the pace attack of Sandeep Warrier, T. Natarajan and M. Mohammed set the game up on a typical red-soil pitch that tends to help the pacers at least on the first two days, as pace bowling has been an area of concern for Tamil Nadu for a while now.

TN played two warm-up matches in Baroda before coming to Valsad, and skipper R. Sai Kishore expressed confidence ahead of the tournament. The 27-year-old left-arm spinner said, “We had two good three-day games and will have a full squad for the first match. Sai and Pradosh, who had their proper full season last year, are now the mainstays, and it will reflect on the field. We have all our bases sorted, and hopefully, the result goes our way too.”