Sulakshan Kulkarni resigns after one year as Tamil Nadu’s head coach

In a quest to break their red-ball trophy drought, Tamil Nadu had appointed Mumbai’s well-renowned coach Sulakshan Kulkarni on a two-year deal. Just one year into the contract, Kulkarni resigned from his job after writing a letter to the state association about his unavailability for the upcoming season. 

After the semi-final defeat at the hands of Mumbai, Kulkarni had put the Tamil Nadu skipper Sai Kishore under the bus, stating that Tamil Nadu had lost the semi-final at 9 am on day one when Kishore decided to bat first. 

Read: We lost the match at 9 o'clock on day one: Tamil Nadu's head coach

"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,” he said post the loss against Mumbai. 

"Ultimately he [Sai Kishore] is the boss. I can give my feedback and inputs (on) the kind of wickets and Mumbai's mindset,” he added. 

Throughout the season, the players had hinted at Kulkarni’s coaching methods, with senior players coming out strongly against the way he treated certain players. Some even were forced to move lower down the order, to accommodate players at the top of the order. 

It is yet to be known whether Tamil Nadu would hand bowling coach Laxmipathy Balaji the promotion to a head coach.

(Featured Image Courtesy: TOI)