With a century against Mumbai, prolific Baba Indrajith keeps plugging away

Although pandemic did stall the A tour programmes for 18 months, even after it resumed at the end of 2021, Indrajith has failed to make the cut. This season he was included in the South Zone squad for Duleep Trophy and scored a century in the final.
That was the last time he heard from the national selectors.

On Day Three of Tamil Nadu’s Ranji Trophy game at the Brabourne Stadium, Indrajith led from the front once again scoring 103 to keep Mumbai at bay. Thanks to his 14th First-Class century and an unbeaten 107 from Pradosh Ranjan Paul, Tamil Nadu were placed 380/4 in the second innings and went to stumps on Day 3 with a lead of 43 runs. In a match where Sarfaraz had already hogged the limelight with 162, Indrajith served another timely reminder.

Being overlooked isn’t new to Indrajith. At age-group levels, missed out on making the state teams. At times, his twin brother Baba Aparajith got the nod ahead of him.

Unlike some of his peers, Indrajith does not have an IPL contract. This season he didn’t even make the Tamil Nadu side for Syed
Mushtaq Ali T20s. With Tamil Nadu’s Ranji Trophy drought extending to three decades – they last played the final in the 2014-15 season – means Indrajith has had to play in the shadow of other big run-makers.

“With the performances I have had in Ranji, if I was in a different team like Mumbai or something, I may have made it. You have to be in the limelight, be it IPL or social media for people to take note and I’m not one of those. So when you come from a team like TN that is not doing well in the Ranji Trophy, you get overlooked. A century in the Duleep Trophy final has not made a difference,” Indrajith added.

Indrajith is quietly going about getting Tamil Nadu back on track in the red-ball format. For a side that has done well, even winning trophies regularly in white-ball formats, success has eluded them in the longer format. This season, they are once again striving hard to get past the group stages. “Leading TN is not easy. I value this tournament a lot and I’ve certain goals — playing for India is a dream — and winning the Ranji Trophy for Tamil Nadu is a very big thing for me. But we have to understand certain things. Lot of people want us to win the Ranji Trophy. But people also need to understand that we have to build a team that can go on on win the championship. If you haven’t won the Ranji Trophy for 30 years then there is something wrong,” Indrajith added.

This is Indrajith’s second stint as captain. The last time he captained in Ranji Trophy was in 2018, when they failed to get beyond the group stages. Now again in the hot seat, Indrajith is looking to set a few things right, like putting a team culture in place.

“You have to buckle down and play because it is the most difficult tournament. You are on the field for four days and you have just a three-day gap in between. It is a long marathon. We need a direction and when everyone comes on board, we can at least think of qualifying for knockouts,” Indrajith added.

He has also remained under the microscope because his father RN Baba is the assistant secretary of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association.

“There is always a talk that we (he and his twin brother) have got a lot of opportunities. It was difficult to comprehend because it was far from the truth. To be honest we have to do double the hard work because one bad outing is all it takes to get those talks going again.”