The lanky youngster in a chat with this daily insists that it (Buchi Babu tourney) was a good experience for him and it would come in handy for the coming season.
Published: 14th September 2023 06:24 AM | Last Updated: 14th September 2023 06:24 AM | A+A A-
Ajith Ram
CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) revived the Buchi Babu tournament that had served as a quality pre-season for the Ranji Trophy. Players of the standing of Sunil Gavaskar and GR Viswanath in their playing days made it a point to take part in this tournament in order to prepare for the season ahead.
The TNCA made the matches in the tournament a four-day affair and fielded two teams — TNCA President’s XI and TNCA XI — and hoped that at least one team would make it to the final. But that was not to be as both teams failed to play to their potential. Madhya Pradesh won the final against Delhi.
The saving grace for Tamil Nadu was the performance of Ajith Ram for TNCA President’s XI. He picked up 16 wickets in a game against Chhattisgarh including career best figures of 9/72. The lanky youngster in a chat with this daily insists that it (Buchi Babu tourney) was a good experience for him and it would come in handy for the coming season.
“Buchi Babu was a very well-conducted tournament with good teams and good players playing in the tournament. Many players who have played India or currently playing for India have been a part of this tournament, so it was a very good learning experience for me,” said Ajith Ram.
Ajith prefers to bowl wicket-to-wicket subtle variations. He had a dream debut last season in the Ranji Trophy winning the man of the match award in the last two games that Tamil Nadu played. He also had a fruitful TNCA Senior Division league so far having picked up 24 wickets in five matches for Globe Trotters. Varying the pace of the ball and working on angles was one area that he wanted to improve and the Buchi Babu tourney helped him do that. “I wanted to work on my consistency and varying my pace with good spin on the ball according to the wicket and I was able to achieve it in the Buchi Babu tourney,” revealed the youngster.
The genial southpaw was pleased with the games being a four-day one as it was perfect preparation for Ranji. “Playing the (four-day) tournament was very beneficial in terms of preparation for the upcoming season. It was definitely a very good preparation for Ranji as we played on good wickets and against good teams. My best performance was against Chhattisgarh as I got 16 wickets (7&9 wickets) which was a memorable one for me and it would have been more special if we had ended on the winning side,” shared Ajith.
Speaking of wickets, the Ranji Trophy is a winter game in India and Tamil Nadu has to play most of its games in the North. So one needs to adapt. “The wickets for the tournament were true with good grass covering. Especially in Coimbatore, the wicket was true in nature. Our coach, Sulakshan sir, encouraged us and he gave us the confidence to prepare well for the season,” said Ajith.
Today, the coaching staff right from the Indian team to the school level want their players to be two-dimensional. They expect even a No 11 to bat. “Yes definitely, I’ve been working on my batting and hope I can contribute to the team with the bat as it will be very important. I am also mentally prepared to play ‘away’ games. I have gained good experience playing two Ranji games last season and the Buchi Babu now. I have good confidence to bowl at the First Class level and looking forward to learning more in my trade and ensuring that it benefits the team,” signed off Ajith, who is playing in the TNCA VAP trophy tournament.
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