Ravichandran Ashwin to lead Tamil Nadu in Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament

Ace India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, though had his stints with injury on two major overseas tours over the last six months, has been appointed as the captain of Tamil Nadu in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament. The tournament will kick off in Surat on February 21. India opener Murali Vijay, who is going through a lean phase of late, was not included in the squad that was announced on Thursday.

Teenage all-rounder Washington Sundar, who missed cricket over a large part of 2018 because of injury, was also back into the team, a press release from Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) said. Sundar was in fact named the vice-captain of the squad.

Vijay Shankar gets a call

Vijay Shankar, the all-rounder who has been touring with the Indian national side in New Zealand, was also picked in the squad. Shankar was called as the replacement of ace all-rounder Hardik Pandya for the ODI series in Australia after the latter was suspended over making controversial remarks on a popular TV show of filmmaker Karan Johar. Baba Indrajith, captain of Tamil Nadu’s Ranji team, was also included though his brother Baba Aparajith didn’t get a call.

Other players who got calls in the Syed Mushtaq Ali squad included C Hari Nishaanth – who excelled in Tamil Nadu Premier League last year – and R Vivek, who also caught attention with his big-hitting ability. In the spin-bowling department, right-arm leg-break bowler Murugan Ashwin and left-arm leggie Sai Kishore joined skipper Ashwin.

Ravichandran Ashwin plays Tests more regularly and last appeared for India in limited-overs on the international stage in June-July 2017. Moreover, he captains Indian Premier League franchise Kings Xi Punjab. Tamil Nadu’s first game in the competition is against Rajasthan on the first day.

Tamil Nadu squad for Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament

Ravichandran Ashwin (captain), MS Washington Sundar (vice-captain), N Jagadeesan (wk), M Ashwin, M Shahrukh Khan, Vijay Shankar, B Indrajith, R Vivek, T Natarajan, C Hari Nishaanth, M Mohammed, R Sai Kishore, J Kousik, N S Chaturvedi, V Athisayaraj Davidson and Abhishek Tanwar

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