East Zone pacer Mukesh Kumar felt that there was enough on the surface for the quicks to keep the batters honest, provided they had the right tactics.

Despite bowling on a fresh MAC Stadium pitch on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy final, the South Zone fast bowlers were inconsistent and resorted to short-pitched stuff without much success.

In contrast, Mukesh and Mohammed Shami attacked the stumps and scalped four of the six wickets to fall on day three.

“I didn’t pitch it too full here. If I had bowled full, it would have invited cover drives and similar shots. So, pulling the length back slightly to back-of-a-length on this red soil [was important]. If you hit the deck hard and put effort into it, the ball kicks. We worked on that,” said Mukesh.

The Bengal speedster also stressed the need to maintain the ball, especially on red-soil pitches where it could get scuffed easily.

“Speaking for myself, the harder I pound the deck and hit the seam, the more the ball will kick, regardless of the wicket. The other part is working on the ball — applying sweat repeatedly, polishing it, and preparing it for reverse swing. We worked on that, and it gave us movement,” he added.

On his plans for Devdutt Padikkal, Mukesh explained: “It was to bowl stump-to-stump because we knew he was coming after scoring two centuries in Sri Lanka. On wickets like this, if you offer width to batters, runs will leak. Our plan as fast bowlers was to stay as consistent as possible and bowl dot balls, letting them take the risks. They would try to force the pace and get out because they need to score runs.”

Even as the Tamil Nadu cricketing community gathered to celebrate the start of the 10th edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League T20 competition on Tuesday, a development from a few days ago should prompt some serious introspection by the powers that be.

On Sunday, the South Zone Duleep Trophy squad was announced, with only Tamil Nadu player – wicketkeeper-batter N. Jagadeesan – finding a place in the 15-member squad. And TN had no reason to complain as it was a reflection of the side’s dismal performances in domestic cricket for a while now, especially in the Ranji Trophy.

Consistent underperformance in the country’s premier domestic tournament would eventually dry up opportunities for its players to be picked for higher levels and catch the attention of selectors.

Since the 2016-17 campaign, TN has made the knockouts only three times (2016-17 semifinals; 2023-24 semifinals; 2024-25 quarterfinals).

Last season, TN finished sixth out of eight teams in its group and was ranked 21st overall among 32 teams in the Elite division. In seven matches, the team managed just one outright win and managed to take first-innings lead in two other games.

Even on an individual level, none of the batters or bowlers stood out. While Pradosh Ranjan Paul was the top-scorer with 564 runs, Sai Kishore topped the wickets charts with 20 scalps. For context, Goa’s Abhinav Tejrana, a member of the South Zone squad, managed 788 runs and was the fifth-highest run-getter in the season.

While there have been criticisms surrounding some of the selections in the past and the constant changing of coaches every year, it is also time for the players – especially the senior pros – to take the onus and deliver for being backed for so long.

As the two-time champion prepares for the upcoming season under a new coach – V. Yo Mahesh – and a new selection committee, there is a gargantuan task ahead to take corrective measures and use this as a wake-up call.