Vijay Hazare Trophy: Coach Venkataramana hopes Tamil Nadu can turn things around against Karnataka

Tamil Nadu is yet to hit its full stride in domestic limited-overs competitions this season.

Former champion Tamil Nadu failed to qualify for the knockout round of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), winning only three of the seven matches, to finish fourth in Elite Group D. The victories came against Uttarakhand, Saurashtra and Tripura but the team came a cropper against stronger sides – Rajasthan, Delhi, Karnataka and Jharkhand – and was eliminated.

In the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT), Tamil Nadu started its campaign with a huge 101-run win over Pondicherry but the inconsistency which befell the team this season came to haunt it again in the second match against Madhya Pradesh which it lost by two wickets.

However, former, India off-spinner M. Venkataramana, who replaced M. Senthilnathan, as the coach for SMAT and VHT tournaments, was happy with the way his team performed against Madhya Pradesh.

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“I am pleased with the way we fought back in the match. Madhya Pradesh was cruising at one stage but Govinth Ganesh’s excellent second spell brought us back into the contest. I was impressed with the way Govinth bowled though he didn’t get any wickets in his first spell,” he said.

“The team is settling down. It is blend of experience and youth. We are working hard for success and it will not come overnight. But I believe we are in the right path of progression. The young boys are putting their hands up and contributiing. I was happy with the way Sunny Sandhu batted and finished the innings. He scored valuable runs in the first two matches. Yes, we have to be more consistent. I thought we wasted a good start and were some 30 runs short against Madhya Pradesh. We have to address this in the upcoming matches,’’ he added.

On the upcoming match against Karnataka, the TN coach said, ”It will be good contest between two traditional rivals. They have got an excellent side and have the momentum with them. They have been chasing well and their batters are in good form. But I have belief in my boys and hope we can turn things around. We are closely monitoring Sai Sudharsan’s fitness and will take a call on Monday morning.”

On SMAT performance, he reflected, “We had a good team. It was disappointing not to qualify for knockouts. But overall, I was happy with the performance and I thought three wins was not a bad return in a tough group. There were some positives which we hope to build on in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.”

Published on Dec 28, 2025