India Test spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will lead Tamil Nadu in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Twenty20 tournament to be held at Surat from February 21 to March 2. Opener Murali Vijay doesn’t find a place in the squad announced on Thursday.
Young all-rounder Washington Sundar is back in the team following an injury during the limited-overs leg of the Australia tour, a Tamil Nadu Cricket Association press note said. He has been named vice-captain of the squad.
Vijay Shankar, who is currently with the Indian team playing in the T20 series in New Zealand after making his One-day International debut in Australia, has been picked in the 16-man squad.
Murali Vijay, who was dropped after failing to shine in the first two Tests in the series Down Under, had featured in a TNCA I Division league match on Wednesday.
B Indrajith, the captain of the Ranji Trophy side has been named while his twin brother B Aparajith doesn’t feature in the team. The squad also includes C Hari Nishaanth, who impressed in the Tamil Nadu Premier League last year apart from R Vivek, who came to the fore with his big hitting.
Leg-spinner M Ashwin joins Sai Kishore and skipper R Ashwin. Tamil Nadu opens its campaign against Rajasthan on February 21.
Squad: R Ashwin (c), Washington Sundar (vice-captain), N Jagadeesan (wk), C Hari Nishaanth, M Shahrukh Khan, B Indrajith, R Vivek, T Natarajan, M Mohammed, J Kousik, R Sai Kishore, M Ashwin, NS Chaturved, Vijay Shankar, V Athisayaraj Davidson, Abhisek Tanwar.