R. Sathish will lead Tamil Nadu in the K.S. Subbiah Pillai Trophy South Zone one-day tournament to be held in Hyderabad from November 7 to 14. Abhinav Mukund will be the vice-captain.
“Sathish’s name was proposed by coach W.V. Raman. And it found acceptance with all the selectors,” said TNCA Joint Secretary R.I. Palani, speaking to The Hindu here on Monday.
Selection panel chief S. Sharath said to this newspaper, “Sathish is a match-winner in the limited overs format. He is an explosive batsman. He is a complete team-man and we are hopeful that his brilliant fielding too will rub off on his team-mates.”
Palani said: “In the past, Sathish always had to play with the axe hanging over his head. With his place assured now, the selectors felt he would take greater confidence with him to the ground and inspire his men.”
Off-spinner Malolan Rangarajan is a notable omission from the 15-member squad. However, Sharath explained, “He is a spinner in the classical mould. At this stage, we want him to focus on the longer version of the game where we think he has a bright future. We do not want him to lose his flight and variety.”
M. Prabhu, who can be handy in the Power Plays with his quicker stuff, gets the nod over Malolan.
Left-arm spinner D.T. Chandrasekhar had a rewarding time in the first division league, but as Palani revealed, the selectors settled for parsimonious Rahil Shah’s experience.
It was a difficult race for a middle-order spot between R. Prasanna and K. Shri Vasudeva Das before the latter won the selectors’ approval. Sharath said, “It was a tough call but what clinched it for Vasudeva Das was his dynamic all-round fielding. Prasanna is a specialist close-in catcher.”
Anirudha Srikkanth, a dashing batsman in the shorter variety, was unlucky to miss out. “We felt he had to work on his fitness and have more runs under his belt. It would have been hard to pick him ahead of K.H. Gopinath who has been in rousing form this season,” said Sharath.
Once he proved his fitness, paceman V. Yomahesh was an automatic choice. Palani said, “The selectors felt he also strengthened the lower order.”
Paceman Anthony Dhas’s name was among those discussed. “He was in the reckoning but the selectors thought he needed to work more on his bowling to bowl his full quota of overs,” said Palani.
The team has four specialist pacemen in L. Balaji, Sunil Sam, Yomahesh and M. Mohammed. Rahil and Prabhu are the two spinners, and Dinesh Karthik and Gopinath the wicket-keeper batsmen.
The squad: R. Sathish (captain), Abhinav Mukund (vice-captain), K.H. Gopinath, B. Aparajith, D. Karthik, K. Shri Vasudeva Das, B. Indrajith, M. Shahrukh Khan, Vijay Shankar, M. Prabhu, Rahil Shah, L. Balaji, V. Yomahesh, Sunil Sam, M. Mohammed. Coach: W.V. Raman.
