Ranji Trophy 2019-20 | Tamil Nadu in rebuilding phase, claims Ravichandran Ashwin

In a game dominated by bowlers, Tamil Nadu batsmen were not up to the challenge at all as Akash Vashist ran through the batting order in the final innings picking up seven wickets and helping Himachal Pradesh record a memorable 74-run victory. 96 and 145 are not the total scores that one is used to seeing usually from a Tamil Nadu Ranji team. But experienced spinner Ravichandran Ashwin defended his side's loss by saying that the team was missing some experienced players like Dinesh Karthik, Vijay Shankar, etc. who would have made a huge difference to the batting line-up.

"Losing three players, who were batsmen with experience, from the last game didn’t help. We were outplayed in both the games, especially on the batting front," Ashwin told Sportstar.

"I have spoken to the selectors also and in the next couple of years, we need to pick 15-20 people and play them come what may and that’s the only way forward."

Ashwin insisted that this was a rebuilding phase for the team and that by playing more games the team will get more exposure and will become better experienced in handling good quality bowlers.

"It’s a rebuilding phase. I don’t think we are ready. It cannot start and stop with individual names. It runs deeper. The exposure to play swing bowling is lacking. We need to go outside and play which begins with going to KSCA or Moin-ud-Dowlah. It’s not like tomorrow you send back two players and get somebody else, it’s going to change things. It won’t change overnight," he stated.

Ashwin was pretty vocal on the kind of difference that experienced players could make in a team that has a young batting line-up. The youngsters can learn from the experienced players and Ashwin it is the responsibility of the seniors to not leave the team until they have properly groomed the youngsters.

"This ‘we’, I am talking about is administration, team management and senior players. We can’t allow the senior players to be the way they want at the same time we need to make them inclusive to get the maximum out of them," Ashwin claimed.

"The last time when somebody like Badri (S. Badrinath) left, it was not the right time for him to leave. He went to Vidarbha and capitalised on two good seasons. The team grew. Somebody with such a wealth of experience should be here, guiding our youngsters."

"We are succumbing to the basics of cricket. That tells us that we need to go and strengthen our basics. Senior players need to take the load and they are the best finishing school for any cricketer."