A come-from-behind win in a First-Class match may be a onerous task, but it helps that it’s always a clear-cut one. The trailing team knows exactly what needs to be done.
TNCA President’s XI skipper and left-arm spinner M. Siddharth highlighted that clarity as his team’s rallying force in its turnaround win by five wickets over Gujarat in Group B in the third round of the Buchi Babu Memorial All India invitational cricket tournament at the Salem Cricket Foundation (SCF) ground here on Thursday.
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“We let them get away with a few partnerships in their first innings. When it came to their second innings, we knew what to do. When we got out for 211 (to Gujarat’s 371 in the first innings), we had only one thing in mind - that we need to get them out for at least 100 runs. We thought, ‘If we do that, we are in the game.’
“The message to our team was to be as intentful as possible to get them bowled out for as fewer runs as possible within the 100-run mark (Gujarat folded for 58). It was conveyed that only then we’ll be in the game. And I felt that they were short of a spinner. So, we thought we’ll take advantage of that. We thought if it’s less than 250 (219 was the target), it’ll be our advantage,” he said after the win.
It must have also helped that it was a must-win game for his team to qualify for the semifinals.
Siddharth himself took up the responsibility and single-handedly turned it around for his team with his eight for 21 (match haul of fourteen for 97) in Gujarat’s second innings.
He said that he has better match awareness after his stint with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the last Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
“I feel that I understand situations better after coming back (from the LSG camp in IPL 2024).”
The 26-year-old recalled how LSG head coach Justin Langer’s first question to him when they first met immensely boosted his confidence even before the season began.
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“In the pre-season camp, Sridharan Sriram (LSG assistant coach) told me to be ready for the RCB game. When I was sitting on the physio bed in the team room, I met Langer for the first time. The first thing he asked me was, ‘Will you take Virat’s wicket for us?’ I replied, ‘Yes, sir. Definitely.’
“I think he would’ve seen my bowling in the videos he used to get from the pre-season camp. I didn’t ask him why his first question to me was that, but felt so happy to have been asked that. It gave me a lot of confidence,” he said.
So, how did he feel when he dismissed Virat Kohli for his first IPL wicket?
He grinned and said, “I felt that what I manifested had happened. I was very happy. I mean, no one would expect their first (IPL) wicket to be Kohli!”
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