Ranji Trophy 2019-20 | Baba Indrajith likely to return for Tamil Nadu-Mumbai clash in Chennai
After captaining Tamil Nadu last year, Baba Indrajith is preparing himself to return to professional cricket with the fifth round of Ranji Trophy against Mumbai, starting on December 11 in Chennai. Indrajith has missed the entire season so far owing to a shoulder injury that he sustained last year.
By reaching the finals of Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s, Tamil Nadu delivered a lot of hopes for the Ranji Trophy but that all quashed with the team losing two games in a row - Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh - conceding first innings to Madhya Pradesh in the latest game.
While Vijay Shankar is back for the fourth round game against Uttar Pradesh in Kanpur, Baba Indrajth, who led the team in the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy, is expected to be back in the side for the fifth round game against Mumbai at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Speaking to SportsCafe, Indrajith clarified that he is getting better as far as rehabilitation is concerned and he is expected to return to the side during the home game against mighty Mumbai.
“I am in much better shape now and the rehab is going well. I should be back by the fifth round game against Mumbai on December 11,” Indrajith told SportsCafe.
One of the tallest run-makers in Indian domestic cricket, Indrajith is one of Tamil Nadu’s mainstays over the years, averaging 50.81 in 50 first-class matches. However, only 1124 runs in his first 33 innings in first-class cricket spanned over three seasons of Ranji Trophy wasn’t something really earth-shattering, and it needed a push up for him to break the shackle.
A century against Mumbai in the 2016-17 season did the trick as it began a period of success and growing confidence as he went on to score 2179 runs in the next 41 innings to carve his own distinct niche. That he achieved such an enviable domestic statistics despite having a hot and cold start to his domestic career speaks volumes about his quality that Tamil Nadu dearly missed in the first three matches of the season.
The worries got compounded further due to the absence of Vijay Shankar and Murali Vijay as the duo missed the last two matches due to injury while BCCI asked the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association to rest Ravichandran Ashwin for the Madhya Pradesh game to manage the spinner’s workload.
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