Eyes on Vijay in Trichy vs Dindigul match

CHENNAI: Many eyes will be on comeback man Murali Vijay when Ruby Trichy Warriors takes on Dindigul Dragons in the Tamil Nadu Premier League 2022 at the ICL Sankar Nagar Ground in Tirunelveli on Friday.

The 38-year-old Vijay had been away from the sport for one-and-a-half years and last played competitive cricket for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League 2020. The presence of veteran opening batter Vijay is a huge boost for the Rahil Shah-led Trichy, which would be eager to go one step better after finishing runner-up last season.

Besides Vijay and Rahil, young opener Amit Sathvik, left-arm spinner M Mathivanan and all-rounder Saravana Kumar could hold the key for Warriors against Dragons.

Meanwhile, Dindigul would want its skipper C Hari Nishaanth to lead from the front, at the top of the order. With big-hitting players like R Vivek and K Mani Bharathy in its roster, DD is not short of fire power in the middle-order. Experienced pacers R Suthesh and L Vignesh are expected to combine forces again, having delivered the goods in TNPL Season 5.

But, Dindigul will be without marquee signing Ravichandran Ashwin for at least the first half of the season as the off-spinner is with the India Test team in England. “Hopefully, he will be available for the second half as no team in the world will say ‘no’ to Ashwin,” said Dragons head coach Subramaniam Badrinath ahead of the DD’s opening match.