2016-17 Ranji Trophy: Tamil Nadu likely to miss the services of Murali Vijay and R Ashwin for the semis

On Saturday, Tamil Nadu ended their 13-year wait as they defeated Karnataka for the first time in Ranji Trophy since 2003. With this win over their South Indian derby rivals in the quarter-finals, Abhinav Mukund’s men progressed to the semi-finals and will face the winners of the quarter-finals between Mumbai and Hyderabad at Rajkot from January 1.

The joy might be short-lived as TN are likely to miss the service of their International cricketers, R Ashwin and Murali Vijay. Both Ashwin and Vijay are an integral part of the Indian Test team and were initially named in the TN squad for their quarter-final clash against Vinay Kumar’s men. But, the duo didn't take part in the match due to injuries. With the semis set to begin on January 1, it has been revealed that both Ashwin and Vijay are unlikely to play for Tamil Nadu in the match as they are yet to recover from their injuries.

According to Times of India, the duo may struggle to regain fitness before the semifinals and is likely to sit out of the match. Ashwin is suffering from Sports Hernia while Murali Vijay is nursing a shoulder injury which he sustained during the day 2 of the fifth Test between India and England in Chennai.

“Ashwin, in all probability, is ruled out of the semis. If you are suffering from Sports Hernia, it takes 2-3 weeks to heal. Ashwin will surely need rest before the ODI series against England. And now that he is travelling, it would take a toll on his body.So we believe that he is unlikely to be fit for the semis,“ a source close to TNCA told TOI.

Though Ashwin is completely ruled out, a final call is yet to be taken on Vijay. The team management is ready to pick Vijay in the XI even if he is 80 % fit as he just needs to bat once and field in the slips. “As far as we understand, it will take another two weeks for Vijay's shoulder to heal completely. We haven't really spoken to him for the last few days. We had told him to intimate us about the status of his injury. But he is yet to get back. So we are guessing that he might not have recovered yet. Vijay will only need to bat and he can field in the slips. So even if he recovers 80 %, he is welcome to join the side. Things will only get clear in the next couple of days,“ added the source.

Tamil Nadu skipper Abhinav Mukund, who didn’t take the field and batted lower down the order in both the innings (did not bat in the second innings) against Karnataka due to fever, is likely to be fit in time for the semis.

“He has a throat infection. It might have resulted from contaminated water. That Tamil Nadu won the quarter-final within two days has been a blessing in disguise. Abhinav will get three days of proper rest before we leave for Rajkot to play the semis.So he is expected to be fine by then,“ the source concluded.

Tamil Nadu will look to end their 28-year title drought by winning this season's Ranji Trophy. They have a squad that is completely capable of doing so.