V.B. Chandrasekar has an eye for talent. And he believes the Tamil Nadu Premier League is throwing up cricketers with possibilities.

“The standard has definitely improved. The cricketers are showing they can adapt to the needs of Twenty20 better,” he told
The Hindu
on Thursday.

The former India opener pointed out, “Just look at the three cricketers who left my team, the VB Veerans, and joined other teams this year because of the draft.”

He elaborated, “The left-handed Hari Nishaanth is batting very well at the top of the order and N.S. Chaturved seems to have sorted out the short ball. He is pulling them now.

“And Rohit Ramalingam has batted and bowled with verve.”

Chandrasekar added, “With 10,000 people watching at the ground and millions following the TNPL action on television, a youngster can either freeze or take the opportunity. Many players have grabbed the chance.”

VB was particularly impressed by someone like paceman Athisiyaraj Davidson. “There was a game where he sent down 18 yorkers. All of them were on target and you need a lot of skill to do that. He has a sling arm action which helps. Several cricketers are coming through.”

Excited about ‘Micup’

Chandrasekar, both a commentator and TNPL team owner, is also excited about ‘Micup’ a Tamil cricket commentary talent hunt competition by Star India.

“Studies have shown that Tamil commentary has become very popular in the State.

“As many as 80% of the audience in the State watched Star Sports Tamil during IPL. The figure will be more for TNPL,” said VB.

Commentating contest

As part of its drive to give a fillip to Tamil commentary, Star India has organised a contest for emerging Tamil commentators during the ongoing TNPL.

After auditions in Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruchi and Madurai, eight commentators will be chosen by a panel of experts headed by former India leg-spinner L. Sivaramakrisnnan. Two of them will get a chance to commentate in the TNPL final.

Cricket is blossoming in small towns… these are exciting times for Tamil Nadu cricket.

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