Ravichandran Ashwin and Murali Vijay have been named in Tamil Nadu’s squad for the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal clash against Karnataka in Vizag. The duo face a short turnaround after the fifth Test between India and England ends in Chennai on the 20th.
On the sidelines of the ongoing Test match, Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) President N Srinivasan revealed, “We want them (Ashwin and Vijay) to play (in the quarterfinal) and they are both keen to play.”
Vijay had suffered a shoulder injury during the second day’s play while diving at backward point and did not open the innings. However, he was deemed to have recovered enough to walk out to bat at the fall of the fourth wicket.
Ashwin, whose workload across all formats is being carefully managed, faces a race against time to be available for the fixture. Immediately after the fifth Test, the off-spinner will travel to Dubai to conduct a coaching clinic for aspiring youngsters on behalf of East Sports Management (ESM) Cricket Academy.
With the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal round beginning from the 23rd, he is looking at a tight schedule. Srinivasan confirmed, “Ashwin is going to Dubai to attend the inauguration of an academy the day after the Test ends but will be back in time for the Ranji quarterfinal.”
On the other hand, Karnataka could be bolstered by the presence of KL Rahul, Karun Nair and Manish Pandey as all the players in the Indian Test squad are likely to be available. In the same vein, Parthiv Patel will lead Gujarat in their knockout contest against Odisha in Jaipur.
The Ranji Trophy quarterfinals had been advanced by a day in order to accommodate adequate break during the business stages of the tournament. The two semi-finals were preponed by two days and will now begin from January 1 in Rajkot and Nagpur with the title clash being rescheduled for January 10 in Indore.
All the knockout matches will be played over five days as against the group games which took place over four days.
Mumbai are the defending champions following their innings victory in the 2015/16 Ranji Trophy final. With the presence of quite a few prominent national stars, the quarterfinal round could get heated this time around.
Ranji Trophy Quarter Finals Schedule
Hyderabad versus Mumbai in Raipur from December 23rd to 27th
Tamil Nadu versus Karnataka in Vizag from December 23rd to 27th
Gujarat versus Odisha in Jaipur from December 23rd to 27th
Haryana versus Jharkhand in Vadodara from December 23rd to 27th
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