Disappointed not to qualify on Robin Singh's birthday

Karaikudi Kaalai's M Shajahan addressed the media after his team’s three-wicket win against the Ruby Kanchi Warriors at the India Cements Limited ground, Sankarnagar, Tirunelveli, on Wednesday, in the India Cements Tamil Nadu Premier League.

Does the win give you satisfaction?

We are happy with the win obviously, but not entering the semifinals is a small disappointment. But losing first two games, then winning four out of five games is a very good comeback. So we feel very happy. We were disappointed after that loss against Dindigul, but happy with this win.

Did you feel that your approach was safety first?

No, we lost our a lot of wickets initially during the powerplay. The plan was to target the powerplay, but we couldn’t capitalize because they bowled well. We couldn’t hit after we lost the early wickets because wicket was stopping. Initial wickets was a big drawback for us. Our next target was to win the game because it became tough to win. They bowled smartly outside the off-stump.

Was losing the toss a big drawback?

No, we anyway wanted to bowl first. We haven’t scored 160 before in this tournament and we had to win the match by 60 runs or more. So our only chance was to bundle them out for a low score and then chase that down in 12 overs. That is what happened. We had planned for for 100-120 but today’s wicket was not great for batting. It was turning, gripping and stopping which made it tough for us. The batsman has to hit the ball hard, but since it was stopping, we couldn’t do that.

What's your experience of playing in the league so far?

This tournament has reached to a big level with many unknown players reaching good heights. I congratulate all and I would like to thank Star Sports for telecasting this tournament so that people can watch us play. In future, there will be more talents playing this league. This is a stage for young players and they would need to use it well.

What was the mood in the camp after the match? Noticed a small meeting near the dug-out.

We were disappointed we couldn’t win because today was Robin Singh’s birthday and it would have been a good gift for him. But it is a part of the game and we played very good cricket. Hope to comeback better in the next year. We were just having fun and talking about what we can do next. Seniors and Robin Singh were guiding us throughout the tournament and overall it was a superb experience. We were honoured to have Robin Sir in our team.