When was the last time Tamil Nadu qualified for the Ranji Trophy semifinals?

Tamil Nadu stormed into the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy for the first time since 2016-17. They achieved the feat after beating Saurashtra by an innings and 33 runs at the SNR College ground in Coimbatore.

R Sai Kishore's men look hungry for success and their desire to do well in the premier domestic competition has translated into tangible results; one can expect them to give a good account for themselves in the semi-final.

This is the third time Tamil Nadu have achieved an innings victory this season, and all of them have come at this venue. It would not be too harsh to say that SNR has been a happy hunting ground for them.

Skipper Kishore starred for Tamil Nadu with both bat and ball, picking up match figures of nine for 93, while also scoring 60 when the time came for him to brandish the willow.

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Tamil Nadu had last qualified for the semi-final in the 2016-17 season

As mentioned earlier, Tamil Nadu had last qualified for the semi-final in the 2016-17 season, and endured a drought of sorts to do the same in the seasons since.

This was quite surprising given that they are traditional powerhouses in domestic cricket. While they have continued to shine in white-ball cricket, they have not quite had the same amount of success with the red ball.

To be sure, Tamil Nadu won the Vijay Hazare Trophy the same season when they qualified for the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy (2016-17) although they have come runner-up twice after that, in 2019-20 and 2021-22.

As for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, they won it in 2021-22 (doing the double with the Vijay Hazare) as well as in 2020-21, along with being runners-up in 2019-20.

This just goes to show that the drought existed for Tamil Nadu only in the Ranji Trophy, which they last won in 1987-88.

Despite being such a fancied side, they have won the premier domestic competition just twice, having ended as runners-up on ten occasions.

In the 2016-17 season as well, they were defeated in the semifinals by Mumbai, who eventually lost the final to Gujarat.

Tamil Nadu had done exceedingly well that season, beating Railways and Baroda in the group stage and overcoming a stiff challenge from Karnataka in the quarter-finals.

Their only shortcoming came against Mumbai in their first group stage game, only for it to be repeated in the semi-final.

This season, as they await their fellow semi-finalists, Kishore's men will be hoping that they can overcome all challenges and aim for the title.

It has been quite some time since the Ranji Trophy came to the Chepauk, and there is no time like the present to recreate history.