Karthik to lead Tamil Nadu in Syed Mushtaq Ali tourney

Wicketkeeper-batsman Karthik had guided Tamil Nadu to a second-place finish in the premier T20 competition in 2019. The senior selection committee, led by chairman S Vasudevan, named India all-rounder Vijay Shankar as Karthik’s deputy.

“We have got two senior players to lead us in one of the most important domestic tournaments. That doesn’t happen often as the players might be missing due to international commitments. It is good to have them in our squad,” Vasudevan told DT Next.

“We are hopeful of replicating what we did last year,” added Vasudevan, the last captain from Tamil Nadu to clinch the Ranji Trophy. The pace bowling duo of Aswin Crist and Sandeep Warrier as well as stumper KB Arun Karthik found a place in the 20-man squad.

While Crist has made a comeback to the state side after almost three years, Sandeep braces for his debut stint with Tamil Nadu following the switch from Kerala.

R Sai Kishore, Manimaran Siddharth and Murugan Ashwin will share the spin-bowling duties for Tamil Nadu, which will be without the services of senior offie Ravichandran Ashwin.

Apart from Karthik and Vijay Shankar, Baba Aparajith, Baba Indrajith and opener Narayan Jagadeesan could hold the key in the batting department. “We have a very good balance of youth and experience. We also have a nice blend of batsmen and bowlers.

Tamil Nadu has one of the strongest squads,” asserted Vasudevan.

Young all-rounder RS Jaganath Sinivas, Pradosh Ranjan Paul and slinger G Periyasamy, who impressed in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2019, are also a part of the jumbo squad, which has been picked keeping in mind the ongoing COVID-19 situation.

“Every state will name 20 players. The BCCI doesn’t want teams to make last-minute inclusions as the new players will take a week to settle in,” stated Vasudevan. Tamil Nadu, placed in Elite Group B, will play its opening round matches in Kolkata.

Dinesh Karthik (c), Vijay Shankar (vc), Baba Aparajith, Baba Indrajith, M Shahrukh Khan, C Hari Nishaanth, Narayan Jagadeesan, KB Arun Karthik, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, M Mohammed, Sandeep Warrier, Murugan Ashwin, R Sai Kishore, Manimaran Siddharth, Aswin Crist, L Suryapprakash, RS Jaganath Sinivas, R Sonu Yadav, J Kousik and G Periyasamy