Winless so far in the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season, Tamil Nadu has decided to relieve M Senthilnathan from his duties as head coach for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 and the Vijay Hazare Trophy tournaments, adopting a split -coaching model instead.
Former spinner M Venkataramana will coach the state side in the white-ball competitions. He was in charge of the senior state side till the 2022/23 season. Senthilnathan, named as head coach ahead of the season, will now be in charge of the team in the Ranji Trophy alone.
TNCA secretary U Bhagwandas Rao announced the decision on Tuesday evening. “The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, in its meeting, has appointed N Venkataramana as the head coach for the Tamil Nadu Senior State Team for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (T20) and the Vijay Hazare Trophy (One Day) tournaments for the ongoing 2025–26 season. The Committee has further decided that M Senthilnathan will continue in his role as the Head Coach for the Ranji Trophy matches of the 2025–26 season,” it said.
Incidentally, the CAC, which is headed by former player D Girish, had removed Venkataramana at the end of the 2022/23 season as head coach to bring in Sulakshan Kulkarni.
Two years later, they have gone back to him in the hope of reviving the season in white-ball events, where Tamil Nadu hopes aren’t all that promising, given the squad at their disposal.
Ever since the TNCA’s AGM got over, speculations have been rife about Senthilnathan’s future, citing the team’s performances in the ongoing Ranji Trophy. Having played four matches so far, they have lost two and ended up conceding the first innings lead in one, and even drew their game against Nagaland.
In the current round, they are fighting for a first-innings lead against Uttar Pradesh in Coimbatore. Earlier on Tuesday, which was Day 3 of the Ranji fixture, news filtered that Senthilnathan could be replaced mid-way through the season.
And on Tuesday late evening, the TNCA officials held a meeting, during which the decision to bring in a split coaching model was put forth. While split coaching roles are common in the international arena, this is the first time in the Indian domestic circuit that a split-coaching role has been introduced.
But whether Senthilnathan continues in the role remains to be seen, as there are just two more rounds left in the Ranji Trophy.
Varun Chakaravathy will lead Tamil Nadu in the group stages, which will be played in Ahmedabad. The Indian spinner, who is the top-ranked T20I bowler in the world, is likely to captain in four matches before he joins the Indian team for the series against South Africa.
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