Pacer Sandeep Warrier expressed his disappointment on Thursday at sustaining a hamstring injury during the Duleep Trophy last September, as he felt it was an opportune time for him to get back into National contention.
“I felt that one or two (good) performances at that time (would have helped), (since) there were a lot of opportunities that were coming up.
“India-A tour of Australia, India tour of Australia, England tour… There were a lot of things that opened up at that time. To be honest, I had extreme expectations or aspirations before last year’s Duleep Trophy. Till the time I played it, I was expecting all the things to happen. But when I got injured, I came to the acceptance that it is not in my control again.
“It just didn’t click for me at that time. So, hopefully, if a chance comes up again (to play for India-A or India), I will be ready to grab it. But my main focus now is winning the Ranji Trophy (with Tamil Nadu),” he said at the MRF-Pachaiyappa’s ground here.
On Tamil Nadu’s chances in the upcoming Ranji Trophy, he said: “In the past 3-4 years, I could see how the team has been shaping towards lifting that trophy. I strongly believe that this is the year we are going to lift that trophy.”
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For the 34-year-old, who is now back to full fitness, the hamstring injury recurred twice – once during the last Ranji season and again during the TNPL, where he bowled faster than ever before. He frequently breached 140 kph and even clocked speeds as high as 145 kph.
“I feel that I was in great running rhythm during the TNPL. But after getting injured again, I wanted to tweak my running speed or running rhythm, whatever you may call it.
“I worked with Bala bhai (former India pacer L. Balaji), Thirukumaran (TN bowling coach), R. Ramkumar (at Jolly Rovers CC, the team he plays for in the TNCA first division league), and A.C. Prathiban – depending on who was available – on my running mechanics or run-up rhythm,” he said.
On his experience of playing for Gujarat Titans (GT) as an injury replacement player in IPL 2024, he said: “Basically, whenever you work with Ashish sir (GT head coach Ashish Nehra), it’s all about how precise you can be in your thought process.
“And how can you stay in that moment rather than thinking ahead. Basically, if you play a T20 game, most of the bowlers will be thinking a bit ahead of the game. ‘What will happen if I bowl this and get hit? What will happen if I bowl this and go for runs, and the team loses?’ So, most of the time, you will be thinking ahead of the game.
“But if you can stay in the present and do what’s needed at that time, at least 80-90 per cent, you will be on top. So, that’s the main thing that stood out for me with Ashish sir. He is not somebody who will force you to develop new balls or come up with a new plan.
“He keeps it simple. Cricket, for him, is very simple. You do the basics right, and the result will take care of itself. I feel that has given that franchise a lot of success. The only reason they are doing consistently well, season after season, is because of that mindset. He makes players stick to their strengths. He makes players do the basics right inside the field,” said Warrier.
Published on Sep 19, 2025