The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) has announced all-rounder Vijay Shankar’s appointment as Tamil Nadu captain for Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 on Monday (October 8), starting on November 4.
Tamil Nadu will be without the services of their experienced skipper Dinesh Karthik, and all-rounder Washington Sundar, as the duo was ruled out due to their respective injuries.
While Sundar is recovering from a finger injury and has been advised a further four weeks of rest by National Cricket Academy headed by Rahul Dravid; Karthik, who was earlier named Tamil Nadu captain, is recovering from a knee issue and has been advised six weeks of rest.
TNCA has named Adithya Ganesh as a replacement for Karthik, while the wicketkeeper-batter N Jagadeesan has been named vice-captain of the Tamil Nadu side. However, Tamil Nadu will have a big boost in T Natarajan in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament.
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Notably, Washington has been out of action since the ICC World Test Championship final in June 2021, and has missed the England series and then the recently concluded IPL 2021. Though he was expected to be fit for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament, the NCA experts felt that he was not ready to bowl yet.
TNCA secretary S Ramaswami told Cricbuzz: “I have spoken to Rahul Dravid about Washi and he has told me that the player is still not ready. Rahul has advised us not to rush him and we are abiding by the suggestion. He still has some problem bowling because the index finger of his right hand has not healed. He can play as a pure batsman but stands the risk of aggravating his injury.”
Ramaswami further said of Karthik, “He had played the IPL playoffs (for Kolkata Knight Riders) after taking injections. So we have replaced him with Vijay Shankar as captain.”
While the Tamil Nadu selection committee chief S Vasudevan told PTI: “Dinesh Karthik is said to be suffering from a knee injury. The state senior selection committee of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association has replaced Adithya Ganesh in place of injured Dinesh Karthik, to play in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy for the Season 2021-2022.”
Noteworthy, the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament will start on November 4 and the teams have been asked to report at the venues on October 27. Tamil Nadu is clubbed with Punjab, Orissa, Maharashtra, Goa and Pondicherry in Elite Group A and will play their league games in Lucknow.
Here’s the updated Tamil Nadu squad for Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy:
Vijay Shankar (captain), N Jagadeesan (vice-captain), Adithya Ganesh, T Natarajan, Sandeep S Warrier, R Sai Kishore, B Aparajith, M Ashwin, M Shahrukh Khan, C Hari Nishaanth, M Siddharth, V Ganga Sridhar Raju, M Mohammed, J Kousik, R Sanjay Yadav, R Silambarasan, R Vivek Raj, B Sai Sudharshan, P Saravana Kumar.
(With PTI/Cricbuzz Inputs)
