What’s the story?
Opening batsman Murali Vijay has been named as replacement for Dinesh Karthik in the ongoing Inter-Zonal T20 league. The 32-year old will return to action for Tamil Nadu after suffering a shoulder injury during the fifth Test between India and England in Chennai.
A Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) media release confirmed that Karthik will not take further part in the tournament in order to attend his sister-in-law's wedding. The wicket-keeper batsman was also involved in a nasty mid-pitch collision with teammate Baba Aparajith during a fixture against Karnataka yesterday.
Upon ball-watching, the 31-year old did not notice his batting partner and ran right into him. Though he looked dazed after the collision, Karthik picked himself up and went on to score a match-winning 33-ball 45.
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Vijay, along with fellow national star Ravichandran Ashwin, had pulled out of Tamil Nadu's knockout clashes in the recently completed Ranji Trophy. The former strained his shoulder while fielding and the off-spinner complained of a sports hernia.
The heart of the matter
The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy had been revamped for a zone-based league. The Inter-State tournament will see teams divided according to their zones. Each side plays the other once before the main inter-zonal one which is set to feature the leading players from every state. The likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan and Gautam Gambhir have turned out for their respective states.
In Karthik's absence, Narayan Jagadeesan will don the gloves. In fact, he had kept wicket in today’s encounter against Hyderabad. The squad, led by all-rounder Vijay Shankar, features experienced names like Abhinav Mukund and Rajagopal Sathish.
Updated Tamil Nadu Squad: Vijay Shankar (c), Anirudha Srikkanth, Baba Aparajith, Murugan Ashwin, Aswin Christ, Kaushik Gandhi, Harish Kumar, Baba Indrajith, Narayan Jagadeesan, Abhinav Mukund, Thangarasu Natarajan, Sanjay Yadav, Rajagopal Sathish, Rahil Shah, Krishnamoorthy Vignesh and Murali Vijay.
What next?
Tamil Nadu are currently (as of 30th January) at fifth in South Zone with a victory and defeat apiece. They still have one game each against Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala with the first of those scheduled tomorrow at the India Cement Limited Guru Nanak College Ground in Chennai. Vijay will be available for all three matches. As for Karthik, it remains to be seen if he regains fitness before the inter-zonal part begins.
Sportskeeda’s Take
Even though Tamil Nadu will miss the services of Karthik, Vijay’s availability should soothe their nerves. Before he became a solid Test opener for his country, the elegant right-hander came into the limelight as a fluent T20 batsman at the top of the order.
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