Confident Tamil Nadu take on Mumbai

Tamil Nadu this season presents a team of solid performers with bat and ball - a fact demonstrated by their four outright wins this year. But while there are good players in both disciplines, the batting is unquestionably the dominant wing. Tamil Nadu heads into the semis with a batting line-up that most would consider the best and deepest in domestic cricket in India today.

The line-up has two left-handers at its head - Sadagoppan Ramesh and Sridharan Sriram. The qualityof this opening pair can be judged by the fact that both have received national recognition, with senior partner Ramesh already established as the Test opener. Sriram, on the other hand, has had a record-breaking season, having already scored over a thousand runs with five centuries, and is almost certain to pass the milestone for most runs in a single Ranji season.

This outstanding opening pair is likely to be followed by a middle-order of former India u-19 star Hemang Badani, JR Madanagopal, and another former u-19 star in Sridharan Sharath. While none of these have received national recognitioin, they are familiar names to anyone with even a cursory interest in domestic cricket, and possess outstanding domestic records. Sharath, who captains the side when national duty calls for Robin Singh, is particularly one who can be considered to have missed national selection so far only due to a combination of severe ill-luck and the capriciousness of Indian selectors over the years. He has had a typically consistent season, with a double century against Uttar Pradesh demonstrating his recent form.

In the lower-middle order, Tamil Nadu are likely to have two solid allrounders of contrasting styles. Skipper Robin Singh and Ashish Kapoor have both received national recognition, and both have batted at positions much higher than they will probably be assigned in the current Tamil Nadu batting order. Ashish Kapoor, in particular, has opened for Tamil Nadu as late as this season. There is also Rajat Bhatia who played the role of all-rounder for India Under-19 only a year ago and for Tamil Nadu in the quarterfinals against Punjab.

The allrounders will be followed in the order by aggressive wicketkeeper-batsman Reuben Paul - a more than capable performer with the bat, who first came to prominence a few seasons ago by lashing a century of 60 balls in a first-class game against Goa.

And the Tamil Nadu batting does not stop there - all their tailenders are capable batsmen, from seamers Thiru Kumaran to J Gokulkrishnan to Sridharan Mahesh. The last named was used to open the batting for South Zone in the Deodhar Trophy this season in the pinch-hitter role to great effect - he scored over 200 runs in four innings at an average of 50, with a strike-rate in excess of a run-a-ball. An indication of the team's batting depth lies in the fact that, despite that sort of batting ability, Mahesh batted as low as No 9 in Tamil Nadu's last match.

To their awesome batting, Tamil Nadu adds a very solid seam attack and more than adequate spin. The pace options are usually three-pronged - Kumaran who has gained national recognition this year, supported by Gokulkrishnan and Mahesh. In addition, Tamil Nadu will often have a fourth seam option in their allrounder, either skipper Robin Singh or Rajat Bhatia. The off-spin bowling is led by Ashish Kapoor (who has performed a similar role for the national side in both Tests and ODIs in the past), with other spin backup coming from Vidhyut Sivaramakrishnan (who was part of the triumphant India u-19 squad to the World Cup this year) and Satyajit Medappa.

Thus, an excellent Tamil Nadu side heads to Bombay to take on the oft-crowned former champions in the semi-finals. They go with their confidence high, unbeaten on the season to date, and not having conceded even a first-innings lead in the entire season so far. And they go with a seasoned team, with an excellent blend of youth and experience. With as many as five members of the team having had international experience, there is no chance of the team being overawed by the occasion. An outstanding semi-final in prospect, as Robin Singh and his Merry Men attempt to triumph in the Concrete Jungle of Bombay.