Murali Vijay to play the first couple of matches in the Tamil Nadu Premier League for the Lyca Kovai Kings

Ahead of their opening match of TNPL 2016 against the Ruby Kanchi Warriors on Friday, the Lyca Kovai Kings have received a big boost with Indian opener Murali Vijay set to feature for them at least for the first couple of games.

J Syed Mohammad, the left-arm spinner, who is part of the squad, spoke exclusively to Sportskeeda while confirming that the 32-year-old right-handed opener will play the team's 1st two matches before heading to represent India Green in the ongoing Duleep Trophy in Greater Noida.

“Yes. Vijay will be playing in the first couple of matches and hopefully, he will be coming back for us for the rest of the matches as well,” Mohammad said in the press conference on Thursday.

If Vijay does play on Friday, then it will be the batsman’s first competitive match for any team in a month. His last appearance was in the first Test of the four-match series against the West Indies, where he suffered an injury to his right thumb.

Vijay has an impressive IPL record, having played exactly 100 matches and amassed 2511 runs at a strike-rate of 123.39. He was part of the King XI Punjab franchise in this year’s edition of the League and scored 453 runs in 14 matches and also captained the side in the latter half of the competition.

The right-hander, along with Ishant Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara and Shardul Thakur were not picked for the Men in Blue’s two-match T20 series against the West Indies that starts on Saturday.

Speaking about the team's preparation, he said: "Our preparation over the past two weeks has been very good. The team has got to know each other much better and we’re gelling better. Especially with the added energy of (Lance) Klusener and Vijay, all the youngsters are really pumped up and looking forward to tomorrow.“

On the first game, he said: " I was surprised to see the crowd it was honestly more than I expected. It was fantastic. The mood is fantastic not only in our team but all the cricketers of Tamil Nadu are excited. It feels like a festival for us, thanks to the TNCA (Tamil Nadu Cricket Association).”