“That’s always the case. Isn’t it? When you have afresh Player draft, there is a lot of movement and franchises have different set-ups. We have been lucky in the kind of team that we got in the draft,” said Sriram.

 

“It’s showing in the kind of results that we have had, with a great blend of experience and youth. It’s only exciting for the tournament. All four have an even chance of becoming champion going forward,” added the support staff. 

Talking about how useful the fresh draft has been, he remarked, “It definitely helps that we have a new set-up. But, the credit has to go to our players as well for having taken up the freedom and liberty. They have come through with some good plans. Overall, we are happy how things have gone for us.” 

Opener KB Arun Karthik has had a great season with the bat, delivering match-winning knocks now and then. Asked if his side depends too much on the wicket-keeper batsman, he said, “Not at all, KB has been exciting... Thalaivan (Sargunam) has got a couple of fifties and Shijit (Chandran) has contributed at various times. Rahil Shah with the ball has contributed, Varun also. From our perspective, everyone’s contributing and that’s a good momentum to take into the Play-offs.”

 

Senior batsman Thalaivan Sargunam has firmly set his sights on the trophy, which will be his second in two years if he manages to clinch it. “Everyone’s in good touch, and this allows me to bat freely and gives me the liberty to play my shots. Last year, I was with Chepauk Super Gillies but a bunch of us always supported Madurai during neutral games and wanted them to win. This time, my challenge was to win Madurai their first game and by God’s grace everything is going well and now we want to win the trophy.”