Being a Tamil Nadu fan in the Ranji Trophy is not a journey for the faint-hearted. We talk to two ardent followers of Tamil Nadu’s fortunes and chart their journey through the losses, moments of ecstacy, and eternal hope.
We talk about the classic TN heartbreaks over the years, favourite games, the vibrant league cricket in Chennai, the struggles of early TN cricketers, the recent success stories, rise of CSK and N Srinivasan, and we cap off the chat by picking an all time TN XI.
Participants:
K Balakumar (@kbalakumar)
Dipak Ragav (@dipakragav)
Mahesh Sethuraman (@cornerd)
Related:
Suresh Menon on Indian cricket’s spiritual home & TE Srinivasan for ESPNcricinfo
Suresh Menon on Venkatraghavan for Dreamcricket
Suhrith Parathasarthy on how the rise of N Srinivasan and CSK has affected the fabric of the game in Chennai for ESPNcricinfo
Abhishek Mukherjee on M J Gopalan for Cricketcountry
The Hindu’s match report of the TN-Mumbai Ranji Trophy Semi Final of 2000
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Lead image from The Sportstar
Weather it’s Ranji or IPL, this close encounter matches are continuing…
One of the nicest lines ever, in Suresh Menon’s article – which I had not read earlier…
“Chepauk, though, is more than its records. That is perhaps why officials were not keen on building a stadium on the outskirts of the city despite the offer of more space and modern amenities. You don’t uproot a temple just because you might have more parking space elsewhere.”