Aim is to get as close as possible to Vidarbha’s total: TN coach Balaji

Tamil Nadu struggles against Vidarbha's pacers in Ranji Trophy quarterfinal, coach Balaji optimistic for a comeback.

Nagpur: A perennial problem holding Tamil Nadu back in the Ranji Trophy has been the batters’ inability to tackle seaming conditions.

On Sunday, the same story repeated yet again as the top-order crumbled against some high-quality new-ball bowling from the Vidarbha pacers in the quarterfinal clash.

At the end of day two, TN is struggling at 159 for six and is still 194 runs behind Vidarbha’s first-innings total. However, TN coach L. Balaji feels there is enough time in the game for his boys to stage a comeback in the contest.

“This is a five-day game, and a lot of time is left. Tomorrow, our aim is to get as close to the total as possible and then give ourselves a chance to come back,” said the former India pacer.

Balaji also pointed to a game against Karnataka last year where TN nearly pulled off a fourth-innings chase after conceding a huge lead.

He also praised Andre Siddarth’s knock and felt the counter-attacking nature of his play was probably the ideal way to bat in these conditions.

“You can’t just hope to hang in these conditions. You need to have that counter-attacking plan, and Andre played to that. The kind of stroke play he showed was very much needed and gave us a bit of momentum,” added Balaji.