Tanay Thyagarajan had a chance entry into the world of cricket.
At the age of eight, he was waiting for his mother to pick him up from school in Kolkata. One day she was late and the school coach asked Tanay to send down a few balls. The young boy was spot on, hitting the good length area where a hat was kept, consistently.
“That’s how my journey began as a left-arm spinner,” Tanay recalled. “We are a group of players more committed to see the team winning and not focusing on individual goals,” the 28-year-old Tanay said in a chat with The Hindu after his match-figures of 13/144 against Nagaland in the Ranji Trophy Plate semifinal here on Sunday.
“We wanted to make sure that when we got to the Elite Group, we took our game to the next level. It has been a learning experience. I believe that I and the team are on the right track,” said Tanay, who has 46 scalps so far this season to be the highest wicket-taker in the Plate Group.
“I feel my job in the team is to be a wicket-taker,” said the left-arm spinner who adores Ravindra Jadeja.
“The biggest motivation is to do exceptionally well to qualify for the Elite Group. Full credit to our captain Tilak Varma, who brought in a culture of giving importance to winning. With seniors like Tanmay, Rohit, Ravi Teja and C.V. Milind and the support staff with head coach Ravi Sir (D.B. Ravi Teja), Pavan Kumar, it has been a terrific atmosphere for all of us to go out and give our best,” Tanay said. “It is all about winning and nothing else.”
“I owe a lot to mentor Abhijit Chatterjee and my coach Adnan Bafna. They always insisted that sending down wicket-taking balls are the most important in a bowler’s career and that’s what really helped me... My goal is to help Hyderabad win trophies,” he signed off.
