We don't take Tripura lightly: Abhinav Mukund

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu skipper Abhinav Mukund on Friday said that his boys "are not" taking Tripura lightly ahead of their second Ranji Trophy match here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium starting October 14.

"We don't take any team lightly. In recent times, most of the teams have come on common ground. They have got a couple of professionals who have done well for them. Yashpal Singh is a known guy. I don't know much about others. But they are very keen. They also have most of the facilities that we do," Abhinav said on the eve of the match.

Having conceded the first innings lead against Andhra in the last game, TN, who start the contest as favourites, would be keen on posting a win to get themselves in the top on the points table.

However, Abhinav said they are focussing on one innings at a time. "You can't approach a game thinking of taking full points. We are taking one innings at a time. We didn't bat well in the first innings against Andhra. That's a big talking point in our meetings. We have decided to take more responsibility; as batsmen we would need to put up more runs on the board for the bowlers to defend it," he added.

"Addition of players in the squad doesn't make any difference to the mind set we are in. It's important to focus only innings at a time. There is rain around and it might be a stop-start game," said Abhinav.

The southpaw further said that he sees allrounder J Kousik, who has replaced B Aparajith in the team for the second match, more of a batting allrounder.

"I consider Kousik as a batting all-rounder more than a bowling all-rounder. He has come back to the squad based on his recent form. He scored a hundred in the Buchi Babu tournament and scored another big knock a couple of days ago in the U-23 match against Mumbai," he added.


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