Two-time Ranji Trophy champion Tamil Nadu won just once last season.

The 2026-27 campaign, comparatively, has started positively for Sai Kishore & Co. (eight points from two games). Seven of those eight points came from their innings victory over Uttarakhand in the previous round. Their opening fixture — an away match against Rajasthan in Jaipur — ended in a draw, with TN conceding the first-innings lead to settle for a solitary point.

As Tamil Nadu welcomes Railways for this Elite Group-D clash at the MAC Stadium, the host will strive for nothing short of another outright win.

Bhargav Merai’s men arrive having faced the same opponents as Tamil Nadu (in reverse order), getting just two points from as many draws. While they conceded 470 against Uttarakhand in Mumbai (Brabourne Stadium), the score swelled to 497 against Rajasthan in the Pink City.

Railways head coach Syed Zakaria Zuffri acknowledged that his team lacked exposure in the bowling department. “We have a bit of inexperience in the bowling attack… that is our only concern. All the bowlers are young. However, we achieved three consecutive outright wins with a similar attack last season. It is just a matter of time,” Zakaria said on Sunday.

The Tamil Nadu bowling unit, on the other hand, is high on confidence, having shot out Uttarakhand for 134 and 113. The team will again bank on lefties Gurjapneet Singh (four wickets in the first innings), Sai Kishore (10 in the match) and Ajith Ram (four in the second essay) to deliver, though the speedster may have to shoulder a bigger workload if the overcast conditions keep the ball swinging.

While both teams got their practice time under the sun on Saturday, Sunday’s cloud and rain had them training indoors. They’ll be hoping for no Monday blues — and a clear blue sky.