Resilient TN regains Cooch Behar Trophy after a 33-year gap

After a 33-year wait, Tamil Nadu clinched a title in the red-ball format when it won on first-innings lead against Gujarat after the Under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy final ended in a draw in Ahmedabad on Friday.

After a tough loss to Punjab in its first encounter, TN made a remarkable recovery, winning seven consecutive matches en route the final. In the summit clash, a vital 33-run first innings lead paved the way for the visitor to be crowned champion for the first time since 1991 when it shared the title with Uttar Pradesh.

Talking to The Hindu, head coach Shanmugam was delighted with the triumph. “This is a very big win for us. For me, it’s like winning a Ranji Trophy. Credit should be given to the boys. They believed in me and trusted me to the hilt. I took some risks and they worked,” he said.

The coach’s decision to play an out-of-form allrounder R.K. Jayant in the final proved crucial as he scored 91 to hand the team the vital lead. 

“We had a lot of confidence in Jayant. The firrst couple of matches he didn’t click. Once I saw the wicket, I thought if we played an extra batter it would be good. It worked.”

TN skipper Abhinav Kannan also expressed his happiness on the victory. “It’s amazing, I’m just out of words honestly. We started with a loss in the first game and then we won seven on the trot. Belief is the core of our team and a major factor in our success. We always backed each other at crucial moments and we knew we would win it.” 

The scores: Gujarat 380 & 172/7 decl. in 25.1 overs (Maulyaraj Chavda 49, Rudra P. Patel 33, Nishit Gohil 42) drew with Tamil Nadu 413 in 150.1 overs (R.K. Jayant 91, R. Pravin 42, Keval Patel 3/116, Khilan Patel 5/164) & 55/1 in 21 overs. TN won on first innings lead.