S. Siva, captain of the Dindigul Dragons and Man of the Match, N. Jagadeesan, addressed the media after their team’s 14-run win over Madurai Super Giants in the India Cements TN Premier League at the NPR College Ground (Natham) on Sunday.
Thoughts on your match winning knock?Jagadeesan: When I played the first couple of deliveries, I was just thinking of analyzing the wicket. I knew that the ball was coming well on to the bat, so I thought if I am going to go for a shot, let’s go for it and that helped me in the end.
Was the wicket tough to bat on and did it change during the course of the game?Jagadeesan: The wicket was a proper paata (flat) wicket and it remained the same during the second innings as well. After rain, we lost a bit of momentum due to the big break in between. We were also trying to hurry up in the end of innings and lost many wickets.
Do you think you could have stayed on till the end?Siva: To be honest, Madurai had a fantastic batting combination and is a good unit. We had a few strategies for their batting and fortunately it clicked.
We expected S. Thiyagarajan to open and thought that M. Raja would slog in the death overs. A lot of things clicked for us and we were particular about who will bowl to whom.
Were you disappointed with M Ashwin?Siva: We wanted to use M Ashwin in the power-play. But then it was not easy for him to grip the ball thanks to niggle in his wrist. He came all the way from Delhi to play in this match and is leaving again on Sunday. Overall it has been a fantastic effort from him.
Were you looking to go after any particular bowler?Jagadeesan: I didn’t target anyone in the beginning and just wanted to play to the merit of the ball. When I was batting against Thiyagarajan, I could see that he was pitching the ball short. So I just allowed the ball to come to me rather than go for it.
On T Natarajan’s yorkers...Siva: Natarajan has been an excellent bowler and we have been watching him in the nets and practice matches. He is good in the death overs and it was our strategy to use him at that time. He bowls fantastic yorkers and bouncers.
What do you have to say to the Dindigul fans?Siva: The crowd’s energy will definitely help us in the long run. That could be seen in today’s match right from the time we batted, fielded, entered the stadium or were outside the team hotel. We are very happy to come here and play in front of the local people.
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