Ranji Trophy | Sai Kishore geared up to turn it around and ‘strike gold’ for Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu skipper Sai Kishore is confident in winning the next two matches on his own, while coach Sulakshan Kulkarni highlights the team's fightback attitude.

Tamil Nadu hasn’t had the ideal start for its Ranji Trophy campaign — it lost against Gujarat in the opener, then didn’t get to play much versus Tripura due to unsuitable weather.

That’s why skipper Sai Kishore feels that it’s “time to strike gold” now.

He is confident of assuming the responsibility of winning the next two matches for Tamil Nadu on his own.

“In the next two games, we have to strike gold. That’s my mindset. I’m very confident on myself, on the team.

“I take it all on myself, have always been someone who takes up responsibility for winning games. So, I wanna win the next two games, not as a captain, but on my own. If people come with me (on that winning pursuit), it would be great. But on my own, I will do it, for sure!” he said on the eve of Tamil Nadu’s third-round Ranji Trophy match versus Railways here on Thursday.

Tamil Nadu coach Sulakshan Kulkarni spoke about the positives from the first two matches.

“Definitely, the fightback. In the first match against Gujarat, it was the fightback when we were on 119 for eight. From there, M. Mohammed and Sandy (Sandeep Warrier) put on a 116-run partnership and we got a 14-run lead. So, at least, we showed that fightback attitude. That was very encouraging.