Ranji Trophy: Chhattisgarh get to 500 keeping Tamil Nadu guessing on whether they are defending or attacking | Cricket News
They pushed Delhi at home. They came close to surprising Saurashtra at Rajkot. And now in their Ranji Trophy fixture against Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh are dreaming of causing a huge upset at Coimbatore. Thanks to a grinding effort from their middle-order batsmen, who gave absolutely nothing away, resuming at an overnight score of 293/2, Chhattisgarh ended up with 500 in their first innings. The SNR College pitch which has mostly been on sleep mode threatened to get active towards the end of Day 2 on Sunday.
For two days the pitch, devoid of any grass, has been placid. There is no trace of a puff of dust coming off the surface even when groundstaff used the broomstick at the end of the day’s play. Despite 177.1 overs being sent over two days, the shoe marks haven’t managed to create rough patches beyond the crease.
In the final hour, an odd ball kept low, but still Tamil Nadu having already lost opener S Lokeshwar to off-spinner Jivesh Butte have a task at hand to overhaul Chhattisgarh’s mammoth total and take home three points. An outright win for the hosts looks far-fetched even if they wish to take the game forward with their aggressive intent.
In that sense, Chhattisgarh’s gameplan tested Tamil Nadu to the core. It was in a way a clash of ideologies. Over the last couple of seasons, there has been a huge change in Tamil Nadu’s approach – be it with the bat or ball. They have been very proactive in terms of reacting to what opposition has thrown at them. Especially with the ball, despite not having a potent pace attack at all times, they have chosen to be creative in terms of laying the traps. From using short-ball tactics with packed leg-side fields to bowling wide of off-stump or being attacking with ball or bowling to defensive lines, they have done it all.
At home, they have seldom played on placid decks, especially lifeless ones like this one in Coimbatore, where none of the first-class matches have ended in a draw. Toss has been irrelevant over here. But this one looks to buck the trend.
And this pitch played into Chhattisgarh’s hands who had already batted long and frustrated Delhi and Saurashtra in the earlier two rounds. With most of their players featuring in the TNCA First Division League, they were familiar with the hosts’ attack and having featured in the Buchi Babu Tournament a couple of months, they knew what to expect. “Psychologically, if you score 500 it will put some impact on the other team so as a batting unit we did it really well. We want to win this game outright because last two matches didn’t go our way. In the crunch moments we made makes and lost points. So in this match we didn’t want to repeat the same make and at least get three points,” Chhattisgarh captain Amandeep Khare said.
And full credit to Chhattisgarh for sticking to their plan. Having conceded nearly 300 runs on Day 1, TN ensured Chhattisgarh were not going to find easy runs. But where Chhattisgarh had the hosts short was with their guessing game. In the morning session, instead of asserting their full authority, they chose to be tentative as TN sniffed an opening and attacked.
It brought them the wickets of two well-settled batsmen Anuj Tiwary (84) and Sanjeet Desai (82) and that of Chhattisgarh captain and their in-form batsman Amandeep Khare. But in that first session where TN sent down 34 overs, Chhattisgarh scored only 66 runs.
“We wanted to be cautious because TN were getting something off the surface. We have a deep batting line-up, so the plan all along was to bat big and ensure we have enough runs on board. Our lower order can also score vital runs, so it was all about playing to our strengths,” Khare added.
And it was their No 5 and 6, who sucked all the juice out of TN’s attack. In the post-lunch session, as TN attacked, Eknath Kerkar and Ajay Mandal frustrated them with their defensive approach in a 91-run stand that came in 184 deliveries and was ended only off the last ball before tea. They withheld aggressive shots and quietly built a partnership before shifting gears towards the end of the second session as Madal and Kerkar went in search of boundaries. It signalled a declaration was around the cards.
But once Kerkar was dismissed, Chhattisgarh would again go back to patiently grinding their way towards a total that would challenge TN. In the last session, with Chhattisgarh showing no real intent, TN would once again go back to working hard in search of wickets and it was their two left-arm spinners – S Ajith Ram and M Siddharth – who would do all the hardwork.
“It was definitely challenging,” Ajith who picked 4/132 in 47 overs said. “There was not much help, so you had to be patient and build pressure altering the pace. Of course, you had to be incredibly consent with your lengths here. But the key thing is the pace,” Ajith said.
For the first time this season, Tamil Nadu have been put under pressure. Over the next two days the hosts have more to lose than Chhattisgarh.
