Indian Test specialists –Ravichandran Ashwin and Murali Vijay have been named in the Tamil Nadu squad for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018 starting from next week.

Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) has confirmed on Tuesday in a release that all-rounder Vijay Shankar will lead the 16-member squad while Baba Aparajith will be his deputy.

On the other hand, Tamil Nadu will miss the services of Dinesh Karthik, who is in South Africa for limited overs series starting today. Apart from Karthik, Abhinav Mukund, who led the state side in the Ranji Trophy, will also miss the inter-state One-Day International tournament with an injury, while fast bowler Aswin Crist makes a comeback.

S Sharath –TNCA selection committee chairman believes that presence of Ashwin and Vijay will be a boost to the team in the tournament, where they will play Gujarat in their Vijay Hazare campaign opener on 5 February.

He told Press Trust of India, “The squad is a mix of experience and youth. The presence of Ashwin and Vijay will be a boost for the team. A few good players missed out.”

Tamil Nadu Squad: Vijay Shankar (captain), B Aparajith (vice-captain), R Ashwin, M Vijay, M Kaushik Gandhi, MS Washington Sundar, Ganga Sridhar Raju, B Anirudh Sita Ram, N Jagadeesan (WK), K Vignesh, V Yomahesh, Aswin Crist, J Kousik, R Sai Kishore, Raahil Shah, M Abhinav