Ranji Trophy 2025-26: “I wanted to counter-attack,” says Abhishek after his ‘positive intent’ powers Andhra Past TN
Andhra opener Abhishek Reddy, whose quickfire 70 set up his team’s four-wicket win in a 200-run chase against Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy here on Monday, said that his approach was to play with positive intent.
“There was help for the bowlers. And the odd ball was keeping low. So, I thought I would rather counter-attack. That was the intent right from the first ball. Our coach (Gary Stead) said that we should look to finish the game today (Monday) itself.
“Had we played for time, they (the opposition) probably would have snuck through. I just backed my shots and I thought that if I put them under pressure, they will be on the backfoot. Because of that, we got a big partnership (72-run second-wicket stand with Karan Shinde, who scored 51) going at a good pace,” he said after the match.
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The 31-year-old, who also had a first-innings score of 76 in Andhra’s innings win versus Odisha in the previous match, is yet to get his maiden first-class ton. “Hopefully, this season I’ll get the century,” he said.
Though he missed out on his maiden first-class century on Monday, he earned his first Player-of-the-Match award in first-class cricket. “I’m very happy. This innings is close to my heart because the wicket was tough, and I think I gave our chase a lot of momentum,” he said.
Published on Nov 10, 2025
