After missing the entire 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season, Tamil Nadu’s Ajith Ram returned to First Class cricket a few days ago, playing his first red-ball match in over 18 months.

The knee injury, sustained during the 2025 TNPL, did weigh on his mind before he eventually found his rhythm. The left-arm spinner got it right in the second essay against Uttarakhand, claiming four wickets in Tamil Nadu’s thumping win.

“I did have a few nerves initially. Coming back after a long layoff, everything felt a bit new. But as the game progressed, I began regaining that feel,” Ajith Ram said at the MAC Stadium on Saturday, two days ahead of the fixture against Railways.

The 28-year-old “could barely sleep for the first three months” before he started coping with the situation. “Every athlete goes through a phase like this, where something disrupts your momentum just when you’re doing well. Initially, it was very tough. But once I accepted that this was the reality, my focus shifted to how I was going to make a comeback.”

Ajith Ram, with 98 wickets in 19 matches at an average of 17.35, has been a reliable red-ball bowler. Breaching the three-figure mark, however, doesn’t excite him.

“Ultimately, 100 is just a number. My goal is to always contribute meaningfully. Milestones are simply byproducts of sticking to the process… my mindset is to go out and enjoy the game. Whatever happened has happened, and nobody knows what lies ahead. Those 19 months really helped me focus strictly on the controllables”.