Ranji trophy: Tanmay-led Hyderabad needs to improve batting for good result

Hyderabad: Having started their campaign with a thumping 217-run victory over Chandigarh in the opener, Hyderabad fell flat in their second game losing to Bengal by 72 runs. The Tanmay Agarwal-led side now faces a crunch situation. They need to record a victory when they clash against struggling Baroda in the Group B Ranji Trophy […]

Hyderabad: Having started their campaign with a thumping 217-run victory over Chandigarh in the opener, Hyderabad fell flat in their second game losing to Bengal by 72 runs. The Tanmay Agarwal-led side now faces a crunch situation. They need to record a victory when they clash against struggling Baroda in the Group B Ranji Trophy clash in Cuttack on Thursday.

However, a win alone will not guarantee them a spot in the knockouts as they need Bengal to lose their match against Chandigarh. With G Hanuma Vihari leading the batting in the first match, where he scored a half-century in the first innings and a century in the second innings, Hyderabad posted a decent score that proved vital in the result. But his departure from the team to attend the national duty for the upcoming Tests against Sri Lanka left a void in the batting department which was evident from their previous match against Bengal.

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If not for all-rounder T Ravi Taja’s unbeaten 81 and Tanay Thyagarajan’s 52-run knocks in the first innings, Hyderabad would have bundled out for a much lower score. Chasing a modest 239 runs for victory in the second innings, Hyderabad batters came a cropper to be skittled out for a paltry 166.

Youngster Thakur Tilak Varma was the only batter to offer some resistance with his 90-run knock. The likes of Tanmay, veteran P Akshath Reddy, Himalay Agarwal, Prateek Reddy and Rahul Buddhi need to up their game if Hyderabad want to win this game.

However, their bowling department has been doing well. Despite losing CV Milind in the second match, they put on a decent show with Tanay, Ravi Teja taking responsibilities. Youngsters Rakshann Readi and Bhuvanagiri Punnaiah, who made debuts this season, contributed well with the former recording a five-wicket haul in his debut match against Chandigarh. Milind will not be available for this match as well.

Speaking on the eve of the match, coach Milap Mewada said the team is in a good frame of mind. “The thing is, we need to play it session by session. If we focus on one hour or the session of the game and give our best, we will have the upper hand,” he said.

On the batting failure from seniors in the team, he added, “That is part and parcel of the game. But what we want from our batters is they should learn from their mistakes and keep improving. The seniors in the team need to contribute and they should not repeat the mistakes they did in previous matches,” he added.

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