Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Dinesh Karthik to lead Tamil Nadu, all-rounder Vijay Shankar named vice-captain

Chennai: Out-of-favour India player Dinesh Karthik will lead Tamil Nadu in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament, to be held in Kolkata from 10 January. [caption id=“attachment_9140971” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] File image of Dinesh Karthik. AFP[/caption] All-rounder Vijay Shankar has been named Karthik’s deputy. The 35-year Karthik will spearhead a squad that is a mix of experience and youth. However, the team will be without the services of seasoned India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, Washington Sundar and T Natarajan, who are away in Australia on national duty. The state senior selection committee headed by former skipper S Vasudevan picked a 20-member squad keeping in mind the requirements owing to the COVID-19 protocols. Medium-pacer Aswin Crist returns to the state side after a gap of three years due to injuries while Sandeep Warrier, who has shifted from Kerala, is also a part of the team. The team also includes spinners M Ashwin, R Sai Kishore and M Siddharth. A few days ago, veteran batsman Murali Vijay had pulled out of the team due to personal reasons while medium-pacer K Vignesh, who tested positive for coronavirus, was replaced by all-rounder RS Jaganath Sinivas. The chairman of selectors, Vasudevan, said the squad is a balanced one. “It is a very balanced team and has a mix of experience and youth,” he told PTI. Tamil Nadu had lost in the final of the 2018-19 edition to Karnataka. Vasudevan said he expected the team to do well in the upcoming edition, adding the players were well prepared. “The players are well prepared and I expect the team to do well in the Mushtaq Ali tournament. I am confident that they (team) will perform well,” he added. The team will have a camp beginning on Thursday and will take part in practice matches. The team is expected to leave for Kolkata on 2 January. Tamil Nadu are placed in Elite Group B. Squad: Dinesh Karthik (captain), Vijay Shankar (vice-captain), B Aparajith, B Indrajith, M Shahrukh Khan, C Hari Nishaanth, KB Arun Karthik, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, N Jagadeesan, Aswin Crist, M Mohammed, G Periyasamy, Sandeep Warrier, J Kousik, R Sonu Yadav, M Ashwin, R Sai Kishore, M Siddharth, L Suryapprakash, RS Jaganath Sinivas.