After putting up a great fight against 41-time champion Mumbai in the opening match in Lahli, when it lost by two wickets, Tamil Nadu will be keen to get its act together in the cooler climes of Himachal Pradesh, in the Ranji Trophy league match against Railways to be played at the Lohnu ground here from Thursday.
With the absence of home advantage this season, the focus will be on who plays good cricket and capitalises on the situation.
It is important to get used to the conditions, and the Tamil Nadu team, caught on a green top in Lahli, did not waste any time in enduring an 8 and a half hour travel from Rohtak to ensuring it gets atleast three days to acclimatise.
Coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar was happy with the ‘’pleasant weather’’ at least in the morning and evenings, and hoped that the team would play to its potential.
The Railways had done well against Punjab in its opening match, by taking the first innings lead that fetched it three points.
Captain Karn Sharma accepted grass on the pitch as something to be expected and said that his team was not worried about it.
‘’We have to do well. It is a test for all teams. Last year could have been better. This time we are determined to improve. Tamil Nadu is a good side. We will compete at our best’’, assured the Railways captain.
It will be interesting to see how well the teams shape up in the four-day match, even as the Indian team is engaged in a full fledged series against New Zealand.
Domestic cricket is not a spectacle any more for the connoisseurs and is viewed more as a platform for the hopefuls to press their claim.
For the faithful fans who may visit the ground to get a glimpse of cricket in a pure environment, Tamil Nadu and Railways promise a rich fare. The rest can keep track of the live scores, for there is no dearth of electronic platforms to keep the fans informed.
The teams:
Tamil Nadu : Abhinav Mukund (captain), B. Aparajith, B. Indrajith, MS Washington Sundar, N. Jagadeesan, Dinesh Karthik, J. Kousik, L. Suryaprakash, Rahil Shah, Malolan Rangarajan, R. Aushik Srinivas, A. Aswin Crist, M. Mohammed, K. Vignesh, T. Natarajan, M. Kaushik Gandhi.
Railways : Karn Sharma (captain), Ranjit Mali, Anureet Singh, Ashish Yadav, Avinash Yadav, Deepak Bansal, V. Cheluvaraj, Mrunal Devdhar, Nikhil Doru, Arindham Ghosh, Gaurav Khatri, Manjeet Singh, Akshat Pandey, Mahesh Rawat, Shivkant Shukla, Saurabh Wataskar.
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