Tamil Nadu coach M Venkataramana hopes to find fast bowling all-rounder in TNPL

The Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2022 is underway and Nellai Royal Kings has emerged as the best team with two wins in two league matches. In recent years, the tournament has provided many young talents like Washington Sundar, T Natarajan, and Sai Kishore to the Indian team. 

Currently, Tamil Nadu are undergoing a major transition with Dinesh Karthik receiving a national call-up. Ravi Ashwin is in the last few years of his career and is majorly busy with the Indian team. Abhinav Mukund has opted to continue his commentary job. While the ongoing edition of TNPL also witnessed Murali Vijay returning to the domestic circuit after two years. 

On the other hand, Vijay Shankar, Sundar and Natarajan have been injury prone in the last few years. 

Meanwhile, TN head coach M Venkataramana believes TNPL will be an excellent platform for the team management to find the players who can fill the vacant spots of the experienced players. 

"Although the TNPL is in the T20 format, it will give us a glimpse of the emerging talent. We as a coach or selector will look for and see how a youngster handles pressure and gauge whether he has the talent to graduate to the next level," said Venkataramana.

"We are in a transition stage, and it will be difficult to find replacements for the likes of Vijay and Karthik, who are in the final phase of their career. No one knows how long they will play; thus, we need to identify and groom players for those slots."

The 56-year-old thinks the TN team needs a fast bowling all-rounder in white-ball cricket. He reckoned that such all-rounders would give flexibility to the team management in playing with an extra spinner. 

Although Shankar has been impressive throughout his career, he has been suffering from injury concerns and looked out of touch in the recently concluded IPL.

"In white-ball cricket, we need a fast-bowling all-rounder. A fast bowler who can bat not only gives us depth but also allows the luxury to play an extra spinner on a given day. Like how we spotted a top-order batsman in Sai Sudarshan from last year's TNPL, we expect a fast-bowling all-rounder to emerge this season," hoped Venkataramana.

The former India off-spinner thinks no one can match the class of Karthik, who has won many games for the state with his finishing abilities. 

"None can match Karthik's class. As long as he plays, it will be great for TN. He has single-handedly won matches for the state. He has the ability and experience to bat for a long time and put up a big score to serve the team's cause," said the former NCA coach.