Dinesh Karthik returns, replaces Washington Sundar as Tamil Nadu captain for Vijay Hazare Trophy 2023

Veteran Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik is back in Tamil Nadu's state team, this time as the captain of their 2023 Vijay Hazare Trophy squad. He replaces Washington Sundar, who led Tamil Nadu in the 20-over Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where they failed to make it past the first round of the tournament.

Before the announcement, UR Radhakrishnan, the men’s senior selection committee chairman of the state, said that Sundar was likely to get a call-up for India's T20I series against Australia after the ongoing 2023 World Cup.

Radhakrishnan further stated that he didn't want to pick a captain who might not be available for the tournament.

“There are chances for Washington to be in the India team. We did not do well in Mushtaq Ali, so we looked at having an experienced captain. Dinesh showed willingness and interest to play, so we went ahead and selected him as the skipper,” Radhakrishnan told TOI on Thursday.

“If Washi (regular TN skipper) makes it to the India squad, we would have then had to sit and pick another captain. I did not want that to happen as it will affect our preparation,” added Radhakrishnan.

Karthik didn't take part in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy due to his commitments as a broadcast commentator. He has an excellent List A record to his name - 7,358 runs in 252 matches at an average of 39.77.

When both Karthik and Sundar weren't available for the entire edition of the tournament last year, Baba Indrajith led in their absence. Tamil Nadu topped its table but were eliminated in the quarter-finals.

---

Dinesh Karthik-led Tamil Nadu squad for the 2023 Vijay Hazare Trophy

Dinesh Karthik (c), Sai Sudharsan, N. Jagadeesan, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, Vijay Shankar, Baba Indrajith, R Sai Kishore, M. Siddharth, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Sen, Sandeep Warrier, Natarajan T, Shahrukh Khan, Sony Yadav, Baba Aparajith and R. Vimal Khumar.