Written by Venkata Krishna BCoimbatore | Updated: November 16, 2025 08:47 PM IST 5 min readBaba Indrajith celebrates his century against Uttar Pradesh in the fifth round of Ranji Trophy on Sunday. (Credit: Special Arrangement)Having suffered a fair share of collapses already in their Ranji Trophy campaign, which has dented their chances of making it to the knockouts, Tamil Nadu enjoyed a rare good day with the bat. Winless in four matches and just four points in the bag, Tamil Nadu have made changes in personnel and batting order. And ahead of their match against Uttar Pradesh, they chose irrational ways to change the tide by opting to use the away dressing room in Coimbatore rather than the one usually allotted for hosts. For the first hour, even that didn’t seem to work as they were reduced to 20/3. But centuries from Baba Indrajith and Andre Siddarth took them to 282/5 at the close of play on Day 1.Having invested in youth, Tamil Nadu’s batting has been brittle all season. Even on decks devoid of any grass, the slightest seam movement has been enough to infuse chaos. 23/6, 60/4, 252/3 to 291 all out, 46/5, 109/3 to 195 all out: this is what this batting unit has gone through with different batsmen. Winning the toss and choosing to bat first on Sunday, they again lost B Sachin, N Jagadeesan and Pradosh Ranjan Paul – all caught in the cordon off UP seamers Aaqib Khan and Kunal Tyagi. That is when TN pulled an unlikely move. With the batsmen clearly struggling for runs and low on confidence, they sent spinner P Vidyuth to bat at No 5. The sole purpose was for him to weather the storm that TN’s batting order was witnessing under clear skies. For 79 balls, when he scored 11, the left-hander aced the job given to him.Beneficiaries of Vidyuth’s hard work were Indrajith and Siddarth. They are good batsmen capable of doing the job on their own, but it has been an indifferent season for both, who have been made to move up and down. The usually prolific Indrajith – who went past 5,000 Ranji runs during his unbeaten 128 – should be the glue that makes this batting stick together, started at No 5. Siddarth, a natural stroke-maker, was moved to No 4 and barely looked the free-flowing attacking batsman that he was last season. Against UP, they appeared liberated. It was Siddarth who set the tempo when he had to walk in when Indrajith had to retire hurt on 10 after being hit in the box. Playing his shots without any second thoughts, he had seven boundaries by the time he got to his fifty.When Vidyuth departed after sharing a 44-run stand, which was the highest till then, Indrajith returned and took command. The 31-year-old didn’t press on the offense, but very soon went past his younger partner when the spinners operated. A destructive batsman against spinners, Indrajith is a rarity in Indian cricket. Apart from using the crease, he is effective when it comes to using the depth too – two traits that are missing in young Indian batsmen. It meant he was able to feast on the spinners, clobbering them for 5 sixes as he brought up his century off 136 deliveries. Having taken 89 deliveries for his fifty, the second fifty took just 47 balls.Siddarth, once he brought up his fifty, cut down the boundaries. With a spread-out field in place, he rotated the strike to good effect and scored only three boundaries and a six en route to his first century of this season. It was contrasting to Indrajith’s. Having taken 82 for his first 50, the second took 97 as he put his head down and played a grinding knock. “I didn’t try too much. Vidyuth was just telling me to play normally. He was just telling me to smile and play. That was my main mantra. I got a lot of support from the support staff. The head coach has made some decisions. After a certain point, I realized I cannot change his mind. I have to just bat. The captain, batting coach and bowling coach backed me to play freely. They were like even if I get zero while doing what you are going to do, it is fine. Before that, there were restrictions on how I should play,” he said.While UP struggled once the ball lost its shine, they would hope they can cause damage with the second new ball, particularly after Siddarth perished in the last over of the day, picking the fine-leg fielder while playing a flick.Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 282/5 (Baba Indrajith 128*, Andre Siddarth 121) vs Uttar Pradesh.Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd