TNPL 2016: Playing left-arm spinners is always a handful, says Patriots’ Balaji
Albert Tuti Patriots’ L Balaji, who picked up a five-wicket haul against VB Thiruvallur Veerans, spoke exclusively to the website of the India Cements TN Premier League on Wednesday.
His efforts ensured that his team won the game by six wickets at the NPR College Ground at Natham, Dindigul. Here is an excerpt of the interview.
Since you came here for the sports day in 2008, how do you feel the ground has changed?
This ground belongs to my friend Mr. Amarnath, who has done a wonderful job in setting up the stadium. It is unimaginable that a college ground has an atmosphere and infrastructure of international standards. I think it is brilliant and I wish him all the best for the future.
Yes, I have pride that I inaugurated this ground a few years back.
Your thoughts on the tournament so far?
It has been a learning experience for the youngsters and has bridged the gap between the state and district teams. We need good talent for Tamil Nadu to win the Ranji Trophy. We have had a very ambitious goal for the last 30 years but weren’t able to convert it into results.
This is a platform for many youngsters across the state and districts, and I am sure that they will learn and try to prove their mettle.
Any particular bowler that caught your eye?
Aswin Crist has been bowling well in the tournament and is a wonderful talent. Same is the case for T Natarajan (Dindigul Dragons) who bowled a superb over against us in the last game.
There have also been some great bowlers and this kind of platform gives them an opportunity to move ahead in their career.
On left-arm spinners having a good tournament?
Not just left-arm spinners even all the other bowlers are doing very well. Yes, in particular, left-arm spinners are prominent because this is a sport which has a lot of right-handers. It is always tough to play against spin, hence left-arm bowlers come in handy in T20s.
They have wicket-taking mettle in their armoury which means that most teams will have either one or two in their attack.