We haven’t played better cricket, says Gillies’ coach Badani

"I think as a team we need to step up and play better cricket. We have missed opportunities since the first match and that has cost us. I think we were 15-20 runs short on this pitch. We should have scored 180, at a point, we were heading towards 180 but we fell short. 180 would have been a good score to defend on this pitch," reflected the 41-year-old.

Badani was pleased with how his team batted against Tuti Patriots in the Powerplay. "I think you if compare tonight’s game with the previous four games you will find that our batting performance in the Powerplay was better. We lost only one wicket in the Powerplay tonight, whereas we were losing plenty of wickets in the previous matches," added Badani.

Asked if there were any positives from this season, Badani said leg-spinner M Ashwin was impressive, while rookie left-arm spinner M Siddarth has the potential to go places. 

"The performance of Murugan Ashwin has been pleasing. He is very positive, he plays with intent and he has been consistently performing for us throughout the season. M Siddarth’s performance is another positive for us. He has bowled well, and he can be nurtured further to come good for us in some time," said the former India batsman.

If there was one grievance that Badani had in the match against Tuti, it was the umpires' decision to resume the game quickly which made it difficult for his bowlers to grip the ball. 

"The ball was soaking wet at the end of the match. We had an hour extension available, but the game resumed  quickly, I think we could have waited a bit for the game to start. The ball was difficult to grip for bowlers. I am not taking credit away from the Patriots, we played poorly to lose but this aspect could have been looked at," highlighted Badani.

Opener V Ganga Sridhar Raju who moved to CSG from Dindigul Dragons this season failed to get going at the top despite having played represented Tamil Nadu in this season’s Vijay Hazare Trophy. While not placing the blame on Raju, Badani said much more was expected from the top order. 

“Sridhar Raju is sufficiently experienced as he scored lots of runs in the TNCA First Division. KH Gopinath was good in patches and so was S Karthik. Our batting unit failed to fire collectively,” pointed out Badani.