“Lost the match at 9 o’clock on day one” – Tamil Nadu coach Sulakshan Kulkarni

Tamil Nadu head coach Sulakshan Kulkarni slammed Sai Kishore’s decision to bat first after they lost the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Mumbai by an innings and 70 runs on Monday. With conducive seam bowling conditions on offer, Kulkarni was surprised to note when Kishore decided to bat first.

Kulkarni said the captain had some different instinct and went against the plan of bowling first. Tamil Nadu found themselves reeling at 42-5 after 16.3 overs and were skittled out for 146 runs in the first innings.

“I always speak straightforward — we lost the match at 9 o’clock on day one,” Kulkarni said after the teams’ defeat in their first Ranji Trophy semifinal in seven years. “The moment I saw the wicket I knew exactly what we were going to get. Everything was set, we won the toss, as a coach, as a Mumbaikar, I know the conditions well. We should have bowled but the captain had some different instinct.”

“When I saw that they had played on a different pitch in the quarter-final and what wicket they gave, [that] moment I realised that this is a seaming-friendly wicket and it was going to be a very tough match, we would have to play really well to win this game,” Kulkarni said.

“Ultimately he [Sai Kishore] is the boss. I can give my feedback and inputs [on] the kind of wickets and Mumbai’s mindset also.”

Kulkarni admitted it was always going to be a tough task for them to bounce back after Sai Sudharsan was dismissed without opening his account on the fourth ball of the innings.

“We were mentally prepared that whoever wins the toss would bowl first,” he said. “We knew that we would bowl first. The moment the TV said we would bat first, whatever you say, it goes in the batsmen’s minds. That first half an hour [before start of play] got in the batsmen’s minds.

“When you get into the first over, fourth ball, your international player gets out and you see the situation… In the first hour, we lost the game and the plot. It was very difficult to come back.”

Meanwhile, TN had Mumbai under the cosh at 106-7 but the latter recovered as Shardul Thakur scored a fine knock of 109 whereas Tanush Kotian scored an unbeaten 89. Sai Kishore returned with 6-99 in the first innings but Mumbai went on to win convincingly to qualify for their 48th Ranji Trophy final.