Ranji Trophy 2015: Mumbai vs Tamil Nadu, a clash of teams in transition phase
IF you’ve noticed Laxmipathy Balaji at the BKC ground over the last two days, it would be understandable to assume that the Tamil Nadu mainstay has already crossed the line between player and mentor.
It’s a unique dual role that Balaji has taken on this season. But even as the rest of his team have gone through their routines under the hot and unforgiving Mumbai sun, the 34-year-old veteran has hardly rolled his arm over or really got involved with the action in the nets. Still, Balaji has been among the busiest men during Tamil Nadu’s practice sessions, if not the last one to leave.
When he’s not in the ear of a young pacer, he’s been monitoring the other newer faces in the team, sweating it out just as much as skipper Abhinav Mukund & Co. Balaji, who sat out of his team’s first two matches, will not be playing against Mumbai at BKC.
But it doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of the tireless pacer run in and bowl his heart out for his state. It’s instead part of a team strategy where an inconsistent and under-achieving Tamil Nadu want to get back to the top by riding a youth wave.
Over the next four days, the visitors will take on a Mumbai outfit, who too are similarly inclined with the youth policy. Perhaps more out of circumstance than choice. After a slight reversal against Andhra Pradesh, where they ended up conceding the first innings lead, it all came to fruition as Shreyas Iyer and Akhil Herwadkar, both just having entered their 20s, led the multiple-time Ranji champions to a comprehensive win over Punjab. The others to make their mark at the Wankhede Stadium last week, from Balwinder Singh Sandhu to skipper Aditya Tare, too are those on whose shoulders Mumbai rest their long-term hopes of regaining lost glory.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu’s present dominance in Group B — they have nine points to their opponents’ eight — has largely been fashioned by relatively unheralded and upcoming names. If it was Rahil Shah’s left-arm spin that won them a narrow encounter against Baroda at home, J Kousik playing only his second first-class match did the star turn against Madhya Pradesh with a sparkling 151 from No.7 in the batting-order.
He also put on 196 with off-spinner Malolan Rangarajan, who also scored a ton.
Mumbai and Tamil Nadu are also led by two men, who entered dressing rooms which were adorned with high-profile and established names, and now find themselves at the helm of teams in transition. And despite a number of new faces rising to the challenge this season, the onus for holding the team together will rest on Tare-who did just that with a breezy 137 against Punjab-and Mukund-who has made a poor start with the bat.
