Playing for Hyderabad will obviously be an entirely different experience & it is one that I am eagerly looking forward to: Hyderabad, who are languishing in Group C of the Ranji Trophy Table, have been successful in taking a couple of positive steps this season.
The first one has been to rope in Bharat Arun as the Chief Coach of the team. The former India speedster who also had been the coach of Tamil Nadu, was poached by Hyderabad.
They could pull out a second coup by bringing in the professional, Subramanium Badrinath (36) as the captain of the team.
The former Tamil Nadu skipper, had successfully led Vidarbha in the previous two seasons.
Two times former champions, Hyderabad, fell from grace and were also suffering from the loss of having to ‘give away’ Hanuma Vihari, their skipper for the last and DB Ravi Teja to Andhra.
The combination of Badrinath and Arun should work really well for Hyderabad since both these Tamil Nadu stalwarts enjoy a wonderful working relationship and enjoyed each other’s company.
Badrinath’s experience of having successfully led Vidarbha in the past two years would come handy in Hyderabad doing a ‘phoenix’ in 2016-17 season of the premier domestic season.
Talking to Wisden India from Madurai, the former India International said, “The offer from Arshad Ayub (the HCA president and former India offspinner) has been on the table for a while now, and I had been considering it.”
“I feel at this stage in my career, it is another exciting challenge, an opportunity for me to contribute a little more to cricket. Hyderabad is a very young side but there is plenty of talent there. My aim will be to use my experience and try and help out the young players who are in a relatively early stage of their respective careers,” he added.
Badrinath was successful in leading Vidarbha to the quarter final stage in Ranji Trophy as also the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy while taking the team into the knockout stage in the 20-over Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Vidarbha became one of the two teams that reached the knockout stage in all three formats of the game in the previous season. Though Badrinath did not play the shortest format, he had travelled with the team to mentor them and provide all guidance to the young guns.
The former India International also said, “It will be incumbent upon me to get the team to come together as a unit. I have always enjoyed playing in Hyderabad. Playing for Hyderabad will obviously be an entirely different experience, and it is one that I am eagerly looking forward to.”
With a vibrant leader at the helm, coupled with the expertise of B Arun, Hyderabad should be ‘going places’ in this domestic season.
