“Being engineering graduates doesn’t guarantee titles” - Indian legend’s massive statement on Tamil Nadu during 2024-25 Ranji Trophy

Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar slammed Tamil Nadu's inability to consistently win domestic titles after their quarter-final exit in the ongoing 2024/25 Ranji Trophy. Amid much expectations, Tamil Nadu faltered once again, falling to Vidarbha by 198 runs in the final eight.

The state is still searching for its first Ranji Trophy title since 1988 despite boasting several talented cricketers. Similar to many of the past editions, Tamil Nadu topped their group on the standings but failed to live up to their billing in the knockout stage.

Talking about Tamil Nadu's repeated failures in his column for Mid Day, Gavaskar wrote:

"Just being engineering graduates doesn’t guarantee titles. You got to go through the school and college of cricket’s hard knocks to get the temperament to win trophies. Yes, they have won the Ranji Trophy title a couple of times, but without a question they should have won far more times with the talent that is there."

The legendary opener also pointed to how Tamil Nadu's IPL franchise, Chennai Super Kings (CSK), has achieved sustained success despite being led by a non-Chennai-born player (MS Dhoni).

"On the other hand, the franchise team from Chennai has won the IPL five times and got in the final an equal number of times with a non-Chennai born player as their captain. Once the acceptance that there are areas to improve comes in, especially as far as temperament is concerned and work done towards that, then Tamil Nadu can go on to win more Ranji titles," added Gavaskar.

CSK are five-time champions in the IPL, which is a joint record with Mumbai Indians (MI). Notably, all five title wins have come under MS Dhoni's leadership.

Meanwhile, the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy semifinal is ongoing, with Kerala taking on Gujarat and Vidarbha playing defending champions Mumbai.

"We haven’t heard a word from current stalwarts from Tamil Nadu" - Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar further blasted former Tamil Nadu players, who criticized ex-Mumbai batter Sulakshan Kulkarni after the side's semifinal defeat to Mumbai in last year's Ranji Trophy.

The then-Tamil Nadu head coach, Kulkarni, blamed the team's captain Sai Kishore for making the wrong choice at the toss in the semifinal against Mumbai last year.

Kulkarni stated after Tamil Nadu's defeat to Mumbai last year [via ESPN Cricinfo]:

"I always speak straightforward - we lost the match at 9 o'clock on day one. The moment I saw the wicket I exactly knew what we were going to get. Everything was set, we won the toss, as a coach, as a Mumbaikar, I know the conditions well. We should have bowled but the captain had some different instinct."

While Kulkarni was replaced by Tamil Nadu's own Lakshmipathy Balaji as head coach for this season, the result remained the same.

Gavaskar ensured he reminded everyone of the same by saying:

"Well, this year Tamil Nadu have been ousted at an earlier step, the quarter-finals. The coach is their own favourite son, Laxmipathy Balaji. As of now, we haven’t heard a word from current stalwarts from Tamil Nadu about not being able to go further."

He added:

"Was it only the perennial angst in the South against Mumbai that brought about the condemnation about the coach from Mumbai? Tamil Nadu have always had some of the finest players in the game but like South Africa at the international level, when it comes to the crunch, they are found wanting in the Ranji Trophy."

In the semifinal a year ago, Tamil Nadu were shot out for 146 and 162 in their two innings to suffer a massive defeat by an innings and 70 runs.