Baba Indrajith Exclusive: In-form batter says thoughts of India selection 'definitely crossed his mind’

Tamil Nadu have made a strong comeback in the ongoing Ranji Trophy after getting their campaign off to a shaky start. The two-time Ranji champions had suffered a 111-run defeat at the hands of Gujarat in their opening fixture, with the next game against Tripura ending in a draw thanks to poor light. Things, however, would turn for the better with their innings and 129-run thrashing of Railways that helped them collect their first ‘W’ of the season.

The Sai Kishore-led side would inflict an even bigger defeat on Chandigarh in their next outing, by an innings and 293 runs, and would also register commanding victories over Goa and Punjab. Tamil Nadu would have made it five wins in seven outings had their thrilling fixture against southern rivals Karnataka in Chennai not ended in a draw with the home team needing just 17 more to chase down the 355-run target with two wickets in hand.

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Wicketkeeper-batter Narayan Jagadeesan led the turnaround with massive knocks of 245 and 321 against Railways and Chandigarh respectively, and is currently the third-highest run-scorer in the ongoing tournament. More recently, however, it’s senior batter Baba Indrajith who’s been scoring the bulk of runs. Indrajith had smashed 187 against Punjab to help his team post a daunting first innings total and had also scored a fighting 98 against Karnataka that gave Tamil Nadu hope of chasing down the steep target, despite getting off to a shaky start. He’s among the leading run-scorers so far this season with 606 runs in seven outings, and is expected to play a crucial part if Tamil Nadu are to go all the way and win their first title since 1988.

Firstpost caught up with Indrajith ahead of Tamil Nadu’s quarter-final meeting with Saurashtra in Coimbatore, in which the right-handed batter opened up on his team’s turnaround this season, his personal form and other topics.

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Excerpts from the chat:

Firstpost (FP): TN have reached Ranji knockouts after seven years. How did they turn things around this season, especially after starting with a defeat against Gujarat?

Baba Indrajith (BI): I think it feels really good that we have qualified after seven years but I have been a part of this team for ten seasons now so with the kind of talent we have it was disappointing that we were not able to qualify for so many years. But after this long break that we have qualified, it feels really sweet and especially after first game. I mean we lost outright to Gujarat and to bounce back from there it feels really good. I think even in the second game we didn’t have a full game.

The game was affected due to bad light and we didn’t have a full game. So first two games, I have to be honest, we had just 1 point with us so from there to bounce back it was great. I think we didn’t think too far ahead and we were optimistic about our result. We were confident all of the things were there but we took one game at a time and once we got it first win, things slowly fell into place.

FP: Much like Tamil Nadu, you started the tournament slow but your form picked up as the tournament progressed. What led to this sudden improvement in your game?

BI: I didn’t do anything differently to be honest. Yes I was aware that after the first three games I didn’t have a big hundred or anything, I just had a fifty with me. It was a bit disappointing and I was aware of it, but I told myself that ‘keep sticking to whatever you doing, if you feel whatever you are doing is right keep sticking to it’. Focus on things you can control and leave the rest. If it has to happen, it will happen and I made sure that whenever I step on the field I have ticked all the boxes before that in terms of preparation skill-wise, physically, mentally and just go there and enjoy the game.

FP: You nearly masterminded a successful chase against Karnataka despite a rocky start. How did you keep yourself as well as Pradosh Paul and Vijay Shankar inspired during the chase?

BI: The Karnataka game and fourth innings chase is special. Initially when you go in with the 355 on the board to chase it’s very hard to think about the chase right from the beginning. Yes we all hope that we could win it, but it was important that we stitched in a partnership early on and then took things from there wherever it were.

So initially Pradosh gave us a quick start. He played a brisk innings and after that we had to slow things down and build a partnership and stabilise. Once Vijay Shankar came in or when Mohammad came in followed by Vijay Shankar, there was a clear message from dressing room saying that we are going for the win.

When Vijay and I were batting, obviously there was a good partnership between us. We were analysing after each and every break how much we need to score and once we got that good partnership and things were flowing and we were able to put the pressure on the Karnataka team. That gave us a sign that okay something special is going to happen and we are going to push for it. Also big credit to Sai Kishore for making sure that we went for the win.

FP: Where does Ranji Trophy fit in this modern-day, slam-bang era of cricket?

BI: Yes, the game is changing, definitely the game is evolving and changing. There are different styles of playing red-ball, different brands of playing red ball, but I think you have to figure out your own way obviously. We are all hearing about the Bazball that is a style of cricket that is a brand of cricket. With T20 evolving so much, things have changed in red ball as well.

There are certain basics and certain things about red-ball and that’s the beauty of the game that remains the same. But the other things keep changing and evolving in the modern game and sometimes you go back to the old thing of grinding, so it is a nice mixture. You just have to find the right balance to strike the call.

FP: How confident are you of Tamil Nadu winning the Ranji Trophy this year?

BI: Yes I am very confident about Tamil Nadu doing well in this Ranji Trophy season, because we have been in good form, but it’s important that we take one game at a time. I am aware that there’s a lot of limelight, eyeballs on us not just I mean from the cricketing fraternity and even the general public of Tamil Nadu there all right behind us and supporting. They are aware of the situation and all of those things, so I am very happy that we are in this situation right now, but at the same time we need to control our emotions and just take one day at time, one game at a time.

And knockouts is a place where you have to be good on that particular day. You might be the better team or they might be the better team, but the team that plays as a team and who wins important situations, game-changing situations or game-changing sessions, that will make a huge difference. So it’s a different ball-game altogether and we really looking for to it and the team is in good spirits so I am hopeful that we can go all the way.

FP: Did thoughts of wearing the India jersey enter your mind in the last few days, especially when you were churning out those big knocks?

BI: Yes, definitely when you are doing well and people are talking about you, you definitely get that thought of wearing the Test cap, wearing the white jersey, that does cross your mind. I am not going to lie saying that no that doesn’t cross my mind, it does cross my mind definitely.

Because I know that when I started with the season, the situation I was in and the situation I am in right now, I am grateful that I am in this situation and I am also aware that whenever you step into a game be it a quarter-final or a semi-final, that particular game and that particular innings matters. So everything is temporary.

I just want to focus on doing my thing, controlling the controllables and ticking all the boxes before the game preparation-wise and everything and going there and giving my best that is definitely there in my hands and my control. So whenever I get my eyes in, I want to make it big and if I do these things I feel like the other things will take care of itself. It will be great if I can get that break or make the cut but that hope is there.

But I am not focusing on that too much and I’m focusing on helping my team do well and go all the way to the final.