Tamil Nadu coach welcomes revival of Gopalan Trophy

To the casual observer, the Tamil Nadu tour of Sri Lanka would appear to be a rather low-key affair. The cricket grounds have been devoid of spectators and the Sri Lankan media has paid scant attention to the event. Even the weather gods have appeared disinterested, sending down a torrent of rain in the last ten days.

However this is a view rejected by players from both sides and they are looking forward to the Gopalan Trophy match, which starts tomorrow and lasts for four days. The fixture has been revived after 17 years.

Nevertheless the decision of the Tamil Nadu team not to train this afternoon raised some eyebrows. For the first time in ten days the sun shone and the monsoon rains relented. The practice conditions were perfect. The story doing the rounds was that the players complained that it was too hot to train. Instead they went to the gym for some light training.

The Tamil Nadu coach, Bharath Kumar, explained that with four consecutive days of cricket ahead of them, the team had decided to rest today. As to the value of the tournament and the seriousness of his players' approach, the former State and zonal medium pacer was adamant that his team was treating the Gopalan Trophy very seriously indeed.

``We have never taken a game lightly and approach each and every game with the utmost seriousness. I am delighted that the Gopalan Trophy has been revived after 17 years because the relationship between the Colombo District Cricket Association and Tamil Nadu is very important.

For Bharath Kumar, the tour represented an ideal opportunity to prepare for the start of the Indian first class season and a chance to play against a better standard that they are used to.

``It is a pity that we were unable to bring the likes of Sriram, Badani and Robin Singh because of the ICC knockout tourney but we have a pool of talented youngsters and this is very good preparation for the Ranji Trophy. The standard of the cricket here is very high.

Tamil Nadu certainly faces a tough challenge over the next four days. The Colombo District Cricket Association includes some of Sri Lanka's most talented youngsters. There is Ian Daniels, a 19-year-old right-handed batsman who is technically correct and temperamentally sound. Then there are Jehan Mubarak, another 19-year-old keen to play his strokes, and Tillakaratne Dilshan, a Test reject maybe, but only one injury away from a call up to the ICC Trophy.

The side is captained by the wily Hashan Tillakaratne and supported by a gaggle of spinners, including Dinuka Hettiarachchi, Rangana Herath, Pushpakumara and Tilan Samaraweera. The seam bowling may be weaker but it still contains the bustling Hemantha Boteju and the promising Weereratne.

Bharath Kumar is looking for a team performance and refused to mention key players, saying ``everybody is a key player for me, all fifteen of the squad.'' He made it a point to mention that the strength of the side were the number of all-round players and the depth in the batting. ``We have a very good all-round side. I have got players who are excellent at both batting and bowling. With players like Gokulakrishnan, Mahesh and Aashish Kapoor, I have batting right down the order.''

The pitch is likely to be fairly typical for the Sinhalese Sports Club, despite being covered for such a long period of time. Hashan Tillakaratne felt that the pitch may offer the seamers some assistance in the morning session but thereafter it was expected to be essentially a good batting wicket.

Commenting on the opposition, Tillakaratne expected the match to be a good contest: ``They have a number of players with one day and Test match experience, they look to be a balanced side and we will have to play to our potential.''

As to relevance of this tour to the Sri Lankan players he responded: ``This is a perfect opportunity for the youngsters to show how good they are.''