Washington Sundar ruled out of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Vijay Shankar to lead Tamil Nadu

Washington Sundar is set to stay away from cricket for some more time as he has been ruled out of the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 Tournament. The tournament will get underway on November 4 and Sundar won’t get entirely fit by that same. The off-spinner has been advised a further four weeks of rest by National Cricket Academy head Rahul Dravid to recover from his finger injury.

Washington, who sustained a finger injury during a warm-up game ahead of England vs India Test series in August, missed the UAE leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 as well. While the 22-year-old is believed to be fit, experts at NCA believe the off-spinner isn’t ready to bowl yet. Dravid has also advised Sundar not to rush his comeback.

Rahul Dravid advised Washington Sundar to not rush his comeback

“I have spoken to Rahul Dravid about Washi and he has told me that the player is still not ready. Rahul has advised us not to rush him and we are abiding by the suggestion,” Tamil Nadu Cricket Association secretary S Ramaswami told Cricbuzz.

“He still has some problem bowling because the index finger of his right hand has not healed. He can play as a pure batsman but stands the risk of aggravating his injury,” he added. Besides Sundar, Tamil Nadu will also miss the services of their regular captain Dinesh Karthik. The veteran wicketkeeper-batter took injections to play playoff matches for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2021.

In his absence, all-rounder Vijay Shankar will be leading Tamil Nadu. “Karthik had played the IPL playoffs (for Kolkata Knight Riders) after taking injections. So we have replaced him with Vijay Shankar as captain,” revealed Ramaswami. While these are a couple of massive blows, Tamil Nadu would be happy with left-arm pacer T Natarajan being available.

Meanwhile, the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament will get underway November 4 and the teams have been asked to report at the venue on October 27. The final will be played on November 22. As Tamil Nadu are the defending champions, they would like to replicate their heroics and get the glory once again.