CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu has its task cut out against defending champion Vidarbha in the third round of Group A Ranji Trophy match beginning in Coimbatore on Saturday. After being unable to register an outright win against minnow Nagaland in its previous outing and with only three points from two games, the two-time champion will be feeling the heat in the absence of promising pacer Gurjapneet Singh, who has been rested.
All-rounder RS Ambrish and off-spinner J Hemchudeshan will also be unavailable. R Sonu Yadav, S Mohamed Ali and TD Lokesh Raj have stepped in as replacements in the 16-member squad.
Tamil Nadu will rely on its seasoned spin duo of captain R Sai Kishore and fellow left-arm spinner DT Chandrasekar to shoulder the bowling responsibility against a formidable opponent.
TN will take considerable heart from the batting display of Pradosh Ranjan Paul who scored an unbeaten 201 against Nagaland. Opener Vimal Khumar too sparkled with 189 and the highly rated youngster will look to build on his fine show in Bengaluru. Lead pacer Sandeep Warrier will look to make his experience count after a rather below par show in the previous match where he finished with just a solitary wicket.
Defending champion Vidarbha, meanwhile, replaced an injured Aditya Thakare with Lalit Yadav while adding Satyam Bhoyar in its 17-member squad to take on Tamil Nadu.
Vidarbha is atop the Elite Group A points table with one draw and win each in two matches so far. In its opening match, Vidarbha had defeated Nagaland by an innings and 179 runs but played out a draw against Jharkhand in a high scoring contest which ended in a draw at its home ground.