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The 2018 Tamil Nadu Premier League is set to come to an end later tonight as Dindigul Dragons take on Siechem Madurai Panthers at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai in the final of the tournament's third edition.
Over the last one month, a lot of players showcased their skills and impressed everyone with their performances. The likes of CV Varun, S Aniruddha, N Jagadeesan, Kaushik Gandhi, Athisayaraj Davidson etc. had a great tournament but the same cannot be said of the likes of M Ganesh Moorthi, Akash Sumra, KH Gopinath etc.
Chepauk Super Gillies coach Hemang Badani, in an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda, picked the players who did well and the players who failed to make an impression in the 2018 TNPL. Let us take a look at four hits and five misses he picked from the whole of players who took part in the TNPL.
Hit: Shahrukh Khan
M Shahrukh Khan has been a consistent performer in the Tamil Nadu division league but has failed to replicate his success in the TNPL for the first two editions where he played for Ruby Kanchi Warriors/Ruby Trichy Warriors. One can say that the all-rounder wasn't used properly by the Warriors as he didn't have a proper batting position and often came out to bat down the order.
But, ever since moving to Lyca Kovai Kings, he was given his place at the top of the order and he made sure that he made it count. He ended the tournament as Kings' leading run scorer with 325 runs in nine games at an average of 36.11 and a strike-rate of 141.30. Kovai's performance with the bat depended on how Shahrukh fared with the willow and whenever he failed, they struggled to get going.
Miss: MS Sanjay
MS Sanjay was one of Dindigul Dragons' better player in the first two seasons but has failed to keep up his good work with his new team, Ruby Trichy Warriors. The slow left-arm spinner played all the seven matches for Trichy this season and has managed to pick just four wickets at an average of 40 and an economy of over nine.
Skipper B Indrajith would have expected a lot from Sanjay but Sanjay's failure meant that Trichy failed to qualify for the playoffs after losing out on NRR.
Misses: R Sai Kishore and Malolan Rangarajan
Without a doubt, Jones Tuti Patriots had the bowling line-up on paper but their bowlers failed to do the job for their team throughout this season. Barring Athisayaraj Davidson, none of the Tuti bowlers managed to pick eight wickets in the seven matches they played this season.
Two of the vital cogs of the Tuti bowling unit were Sai Kishore and Malolan Rangarajan. Sai has been a revelation in the first two seasons of TNPL as he has done wonders for Chepauk Super Gillies. But, he managed to take just seven wickets at an average of 30.4 and an economy of 7.6, numbers that are below par according to his standards. Badani, who was his coach at Chepauk, feels that Tuti didn't use the slow left-arm properly and that has led to his downfall.
Malolan, on the other hand, had a forgettable TNPL season as he picked just four wickets in the seven matches he played this season at an average and strike-rate of 27.75 and 8.53 respectively. Owing to poor performances, he managed to bowl only 13 out of 28 overs he could have bowled in the seven matches.
Hit: R Rajkumar
R Rajkumar has always been an integral part of the iDream Karaikudi Kaalai side since the first season as he has been very vital for them with both bat and ball. The all-rounder was rightly retained by the franchise ahead of the 2018 TNPL and he repaid the faith his owners had in him by doing his role to perfection in all the eight matches he played. With the bat, the hard-hitting batsman curbed his aggressive batting and scored his 102 runs in seven innings at an average of 25.5 and a strike-rate of 138.
With the ball, he ended up as the third leading wicket-taker with 11 wickets in eight matches at an average of 18.54 and an impressive economy of 6.80.
Miss: Antony Dhas
When Chepauk Super Gillies finished as the runners-up and the winners in the first two season, all-rounder W Antony Dhas played a crucial role in their campaigns. He wasn't retained by Chepauk for the 2018 season as he was drafted by Lyca Kovai Kings in the player drafts.
The Kovai franchise would have expected him to continue his good work from the first two seasons but all he managed was to score 86 runs in eight innings at an average of 105 and a strike-rate of 107.5. With the ball, Dhas, who was Chepauk's death bowler in the first two seasons, managed to pick just three wickets in the whole tournament.
Hit: K Vignesh
Fast bowler K Vignesh is one of the many players who has benefitted massively because of the TNPL. The right-arm pacer made it to the Tamil Nadu side and there has been no turning back since then.
He was picked by his Lyca Kovai Kings for yet another season and had a great season with them by finishing as the third highest wicket-taker with 11 wickets at an average of just over 20 and a strike-rate of 6.83, numbers that are impressive for a bowler who bowls a lot of his overs in the field restriction overs.
Vignesh joined the team late as he was in Brisbane training with former Aussie internationals Ryan Harris, Chris Rogers, coaches Troy Cooley, M Senthilnathan etc. and that stint has done wonders for him, which was clearly evident from his performances in the TNPL.
Miss: Baba Aparajith
Without a doubt, Baba Aparajith is one of the most exciting prospects in Tamil Nadu cricket and he has shown that in the Indian domestic circuit and the TNPL in the past. He set the stage on fire when he scored a breath-taking century against Karaikudi Kaalai on his TNPL debut.
But, he failed to replicate his success this season as he managed to score just 129 in seven innings at an average of 21.5 at exactly a run-a-ball. His failure with the bat ensured that VB Kanchi Veerans failed to make in the top-6 this season.
Hit: KB Arun Karthik
If someone who deserves to get his hands on the TNPL trophy, it has to be Siechem Madurai Panthers opener KB Arun Karthik. Arun, who has been with the Madurai panthers since the first season, never won a TNPL match in the first two seasons and in the third, he will be playing in the final against Dindigul Dragons.
The new-look Madurai franchise won their first-ever TNPL match and made it till the final and one of the main reasons of it is the batting of Arun Karthik. The Kerala batsman is the leading run scorer in the tournament with 397 runs in nine innings at an average of 66.16 and a strike-rate of 154.47. He will be hope to replicate his form in the final of the tournament too.
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