Tamil Nadu will take on defending champion Saurashtra in a battle of evenly-matched sides in the quarterfinals of the Ranji Trophy that gets underway at the Sri Ramakrishna College of Arts and Science ground here on Friday.
Both teams enter this encounter after four outright wins in their last five league games. For TN, it is a welcome return to the knockouts for the first time since 2016-17, and it will look to continue its fine run.
The top-order batters have been among runs, while the spinners led by the skipper R. Sai Kishore and S. Ajith Ram have been instrumental in the team bowling out the opposition twice in all matches it bowled. N. Jagadeesan scored a double and triple-century in the two ties played at this venue earlier in the season, and the home team will hope for another big knock from the wicketkeeper-bat in his backyard.
An area of concern for the hosts, though, will be that its young batters haven’t made a telling contribution yet, and there can’t be a better setting for one of them to step up.
Saurashtra will pose the most formidable challenge yet for the home team, considering it has been one of the most consistent sides in first-class cricket in the last five years.
The batting unit is guided by Cheteshwar Pujara, who is in red-hot form with three centuries under his belt. Arpit Vasavada and Prerark Mankad have also chipped in with decent contributions.
Spinners Dharmendrasinh Jadeja and Yuvrajsinh Dodiya have led the wickets charts for the visitors and will have a huge role to play on a pitch that will assist the tweakers. While Jaydev Unadkat’s side will bank on the experience of having been in the knockouts regularly in recent times, TN will look to make full use of the home advantage to trouble the title-holders.
