Ranji Trophy: We should have got more runs in the first innings, says TN skipper

Tamil Nadu skipper Baba Indrajith attributed his team's defeat to batting.

On bringing Rahil Shah late after lunch, Baba Indrajith said, “He had bowled 15 overs before lunch and I thought I could give him some rest."

“I thought Tamil Nadu panicked towards the end,” said Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary after the dust settled on a dramatic encounter.

He added, “The field was set deep and I felt the other left-arm spinner in the side, Sai Kishore, would be introduced sooner. He did not bowl before lunch.”

Tiwary said, “We will celebrate this win but there are areas for us to improve and we will need to correct them if we are to win the Ranji Trophy.”

The Bengal captain said Sudeep Chatterjee, not among runs this season, had been given confidence by the team-management. “He played a valuable innings for us today. And we always knew Pradipta Pramanik had the defence for this level of cricket.”

Batting woes

Tamil Nadu skipper B. Indrajith said he had kept the field deep to take the game longer and hope for wickets. “We did not want to concede boundaries.”

On bringing Rahil Shah late after lunch, he said, “He had bowled 15 overs before lunch and I thought I could give him some rest. And Sai Kishore bowled well, got the ball to jump off the rough. Should Rahil have come on earlier? These are things where you can talk either way.”

Indrajith attributed Tamil Nadu’s defeat to batting. “We should have got more runs in the first innings and definitely scored more in the second. On these pitches, when you get a start, you have to push on to a bigger score.”

The Tamil Nadu captain said he did not have any umpiring decision to complain about in the Bengal second innings. He, however, added a couple of verdicts went against his team in the Tamil Nadu second innings.   

Indrajith said the umpires spoke to him about excessive appealing on Saturday.