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Vol. XXVI No. 19, January 16-31, 2017

Yet again only a Ranji ‘placing’

by Partab Ramchand

So another Ranji Trophy campaign for Tamil Nadu came to a grinding halt with Mumbai defeating them by six wickets in the semi-final at Rajkot. The unwanted tag of under-achievers will continue to stay with the team for, as someone who has closely followed the fortunes of the State team for well over half a century, I am convinced that two title triumphs in 83 years does not do justice to the talent available or the facilities enjoyed.

The_Ranji_TrophyThe Ranji Trophy.

Once again Tamil Nadu flattered only to deceive. On the showing in the league stage it was possible to be more positive rather than negative about their chances in the knock-out -despite the fact that the side had faltered all too often at the last hurdle. After all, they have been runners-up ten times and, more to the point, four of these occasions had been since the start of the new millennium. There were the detractors who also pointed out that Tamil Nadu finished only third in the group behind Mumbai and Gujarat and that they were the only team among the three qualifiers to have lost a match. A more significant point in their favour was that this was the toughest of the three groups – indeed a group of heavyweights with seven of the nine teams having won the trophy. Also, the team seemed to be peaking at the right time. Their one loss was a narrow two-wicket defeat at the hands of table-toppers Mumbai in their opening game, but following that they had performed admirably and in fact finished rather strongly.

Everything seemed to be going right for them, particularly after they had shocked Karnataka by seven wickets in two days in the quarterfinal. The batting and bowling had performed in unison. The figures underlined this, for three batsmen had scored more than 500 runs and two bowlers had taken over 25 wickets each. Overall, the bowling had exceeded expectations, while the stronger batting had lived up to its lofty reputation.

It really didn’t matter that the semifinal opponents were defending champions Mumbai who had won the trophy 41 times. There was a time when Tamil Nadu had this mental block against Mumbai and had the abysmal record of played 13, lost 13. But since the breakthrough victory in the quarter-final at Tirunelveli in 1995-96, Tamil Nadu has held their own, getting the better of Mumbai on a couple of more occasions.

There is unanimous agreement that the infrastructure and the facilities provided to the players from the State is first rate. The senior division league is perhaps the best in the country, camps are conducted at various levels, the coaching is systematic, several tournaments are organised and the cricketers can never complain about money or job opportunities, especially in recent times. But somehow the returns have not been in keeping with the investments.

Are then the players to be blamed for not rising to the occasion in spite of an encouraging scenario? To a large extent this is true, for they have regularly failed to deliver when it matters most. If they have the talent, they lacked the technique in a few cases but, more importantly, they have lacked the temperament. And while in recent years there has been improvement in this aspect – reflected by the larger representation by players from the State in the national squad – there is still much to be done.

Is there then a lack of killer instinct in the players? This has to be the case, for, having got rid of the mental block, there is no reason why they should not prevail against any opposition. Self belief is important in any sport and the Tamil Nadu players must believe in themselves that they have what it takes to be champions and regain the trophy which they won most unexpectedly in 1987-88.

For long the joke that did the rounds was that the only way Tamil Nadu could have the Ranji Trophy was by stealing it. After all, they had won the title for the first time in 1954-55 and over the next three decades and more flattered only to deceive. Now it is three decades since the second triumph and while the record has admittedly been better, the joke has started doing the rounds again.

Tamil Nadu has always been one of the serious contenders for the trophy but finishing runner-up or going down in the semifinals does their cause no good. As the saying goes “second best is still a loser’’. At the start of the season, the mood was one of cautious optimism. The squad did seem to have the right mix and the lead-up to the campaign was also marked by proper planning with the camp being held at Dehra Dun since all the group games were at centres in the north. It was left for the players to deliver and they fell short again.

The temptation will be there to point out the non-availability of Ravi Ashwin and Murali Vijay for the semi-final due to injuries. But then Mumbai too were not at full strength, so there is no point harping on this factor for it can be dismissed as an excuse.

Moreover Tamil Nadu had defeated Karnataka, who were at full strength, without the two India players. Indeed a common complaint against players from Tamil Nadu is that they are always finding imaginary factors for defeats something driven home by the comments of the captain Abhinav Mukund who after the semi-final loss hit out at the concept of playing at neutral venues. Admittedly there are pros and cons about this practice introduced by the BCCI this season, but then it must not be forgotten that all teams had to go through the process and no one made any public comment – particularly after a defeat. More to the point, Tamil Nadu possibly lost the plot when after winning a good toss and batting first they squandered the advantage by being restricted to a first innings total of 305 which was never really going to be enough against Mumbai.

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Comments

  1. CK Jaidev says:

    TN has had all the infrastructure and programmes to be a nursery for producing top-class cricketers. Partab Ramchand rightly highlights these factors. The failure to breed stayers in the national team in my opinion stems from two factors (a) mental strength – I am not sure whether young players are mentored to stay the course and reach for the stars. The ‘khadoos’ attitude of the Bombay cricketer needs to be instilled from the very beginning so that every batsman puts a huge price on his wicket and every bowler is taught to be in a perpetually relentless (b) bad role models – TN cricket has had some who have made the grade at international levels but these have been poor role models for aspiring cricketers. Arrogance and hubris has been the undoing of the TN cricketer and these attitudes get passed on from generation to generation of TN cricketers like a congenital disease that stands in the way of fully realising one’s potential. However, getting in someone like Hrishikesh Kanitkar to marshall the team, may be a good step in bringing in a fresh approach to the state’s players attitude towards the game.

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