Tamil Nadu's Coaching Shakeup: Venkataramana Takes Over Amid Ranji Crisis

Senthilnathan will still continue for the rest of the Ranji campaign, with the final two rounds scheduled for January after the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

TN currently sit in the lower half of Group A, placed only above Odisha and Nagaland. In the ongoing fifth round, they are battling to secure first-innings points against Uttar Pradesh, with Rinku Singh keeping them under pressure despite Tamil Nadu putting up 455.

They have already suffered outright defeats to Jharkhand and Andhra, and conceded a first-innings lead to defending champions Vidarbha. Even against Nagaland, TN were stretched while trying to defend 512 for first-innings advantage. It now appears that even back-to-back wins in their remaining fixtures may not be enough for them to reach the Ranji knockouts.

Although the timing of the decision, midway through their fifth-round match in Coimbatore may seem unusual, talk of a shake-up had been circulating within the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) after their fourth-round loss to Andhra.

The final call was taken during an emergency meeting in Chennai on Tuesday, after which TNCA issued a late-night press release announcing a split-coaching model for the rest of the 2025-26 season. The statement did not clarify whether Senthilnathan would be retained beyond the Ranji Trophy.

Venkataramana, who played a lone Test for India in 1989 against the West Indies in Kingston, represented Tamil Nadu in 75 first-class matches, taking 247 wickets at an average of 29.63, including 12 five-wicket hauls.

This marks Tamil Nadu's third coaching change in two years. During the 2023-24 season, former Mumbai wicketkeeper Sulakshan Kulkarni was sacked less than a year into his two-year term. L Balaji took over then, before Senthilnathan, formerly the chief selector replaced him ahead of the current season.

Earlier this week, TN named Varun Chakravarthy as captain for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. This will be his first leadership role, with the management overlooking other contenders such as M Shahrukh Khan, R Sai Kishore and N Jagadeesan.

Tamil Nadu find themselves in a challenging group for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s, with Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Tripura, Jharkhand and Saurashtra in the same pool.

- ANI