Veteran Dinesh Karthik was on Tuesday named to lead Tamil Nadu in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Twenty 20 tournament to be held at Thiruvananthapuram from November 8 to 17.
All-rounder Vijay Shankar will be his deputy, a press release from Tamil Nadu Cricket Association said. The team includes international cricketers Ravichandran Ashwin, Murali Vijay and Washington Sundar, who will join the squad after the conclusion of the India-Bangladesh T20 series.
Fast bowler G Periyaswamy, who impressed in this year’s Tamil Nadu Premier League for Chepauk Super Gillies, is the only new face in the squad. The paceman with a slingy action similar to Sri Lankan legend Lasith Malinga shone in the TNPL and has been rated highly. Periyaswamy managed to overcome vision issues on his right eye.
Tamil Nadu had finished runners-up in the Vijay Hazare Trophy recently, losing in the final to Karnataka. The Dinesh Karthik-led side had won all nine matches in group C before overcoming Punjab (via rain rule) and Gujarat in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively.
Players including Karthik, Baba Aparajith, Abhinav Mukund, M Shahrukh Khan and bowlers T Natarajan, K Vignesh, M Mohammed and M Ashwin had performed well in the tournament.
Left-handed opener Abhinav Mukund, who had a good run in the Hazare Trophy, however, doesn’t find a place in the team for the T20 tournament. All-rounder Washington Sundar will join the team after the completion of India’s Twenty 20 series against Bangladesh.
Squad: Dinesh Karthik (c), Vijay Shankar (vice-captain), Murali Vijay, N Jagadeesan, C Hari Nishaanth, B Aparajith, M Shahrukh Khan, R Ashwin, M Ashwin, R Sai Kishore, T Natarajan, G Periyaswamy, K Vignesh, M Mohammed, J Kousik.
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