No R Ashwin’s No (India duty). No M Vijay, No M Vijay (personal reasons). No Sundar from Washington (India duty). No T Natarajanan’s No T (on a break after Australia tour). Varun Chakravarthy No (rehab at NCA). Vijay Shankar No Vijay Shankar (injured during the league phase and opted to skip the knockouts for his wedding). No Warrier Sandeep (India nets). No K Vignesh Vignesh (Covid-positive). No issue for Dinesh Karthik’s Tamil Nadu, as they already had so much depth and experience that their unbeaten streak resulted in their second domestic T20 title in the 2020-21 Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament.
It was the ageless Karthik who had led them back in 2006-07 to their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali crown, in the pre-IPL period, too. R Prasanna, the batting coach of the current team, returned the highest numbers for TN in the 2006-07 finals.
Karthik unleashed M Siddharth on a Baroda side on Sunday that had six right-handers on an Ahmedabad turner in their top seven and the left-arm finger spinner replied with 4 for 20. This was the tournament’s first match for Siddharth, selected ahead of seamer Aswin Crist, and his first T20 since the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament in 2019-20. TN’s leading left-arm finger spinner, R Sai Kishore, went wicketless but gave up a meager 11 runs on his four overs.
TN initially picked an extra seamer ahead of Siddharth with the Ahmedabad pitches in the semi-finals and the quarter-finals helping swing, and the circumstances were probably the reason why medium-pacer R Sonu Yadav was chosen ahead of TNPL death-bowling specialist G Periyaswamy, T Natarajan’s protege from Chinnappampatti.
In the final, Yadav and M Mohammed, who in the semi-finals had bagged a four-wheeled haul, were not expected at all until the slog was over. The first 13 overs were all bowled by spinners, and at that stage, Baroda was 59 for 6.
Sai Kishore’s first ball twisted and bounced. B Aparajith’s first ball also turned and bounced, with Ninad Rathva at backward point carving a low catch to KB Arun Karthik. In the first half of the innings, this was a portent of what was to come.
Siddharth started with a no-ball front-foot and was struck by Baroda’s stand-in captain Kedar Devdhar for back-to-back fours, but instantly dragged back his length to eject Devdhar. Siddharth gave up only nine in his next three after conceding 11 runs in his first over and took three more wickets. The wicketkeeper-most batsman’s eye-catching dismissal was trapped in front by a fizzing arm ball from the breadth of the crease.
Ahead of next month’s auction, Kolkata Knight Riders released Siddharth, but his latest success could make them reconsider their decision and draw the attention of other franchises.
Sai Kishore tactfully varied his angles and pace at the other end to handcuff the Baroda batsmen. With an economy rate of 4.82, Sai Kishore completed the tournament – the second-highest among bowlers who have produced at least 20 overs this season. Last season, among bowlers who had sent down at least 20 overs, Sai Kishore had the best economy.