CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) has dropped Murali Vijay from the state’s squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy after he failed to turn up for their Group C match against Mumbai on Thursday.
Vijay informed the management an hour before start of play that he wouldn’t be turning up at SSN College as he was carrying a shoulder niggle.
However, in a statement on Thursday evening, TNCA said: “The state selection committee of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association has replaced Pradosh Ranjan Paul in place of M Vijay (sic). This was after Vijay failed to report for today’s (Thursday) Vijay Hazare Trophy one day Group C League match against Mumbai due to shoulder pain which the state selection committee, the team physio nor the TNCA are aware off.”
It is understood that the team was caught off guard as they came to know about it only after reaching the venue on Thursday morning. Express understands that Vijay informed coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar via text, following which Tamil Nadu brought in Ganga Sridhar Raju as replacement. With pacer Aswin Crist too picking up an injury ten minutes before toss, K Vignesh had to be brought in.
A selector revealed that the decision was made after Kanitkar appraised them of the situation. “The last-minute pull-out made the team look for alternatives at the eleventh hour. If he is carrying an injury and has missed this match, then it makes sense to name a replacement. Even the captain didn’t know about it,” a selector told Express.
Vijay is expected to meet the TNCA officials on Thursday, and was unavailable for comment. Meanwhile, a host of senior players were also unaware that Ravichandran Ashwin won’t be available for Sunday’s fixture against Andhra due to personal reasons. The off-spinner has already informed selectors, but TNCA doesn’t seem to be happy. “There are certain issues that need to be sorted out. We will take the appropriate decision after the event gets over. We will meet each and every concerned person before taking a call. It does affect the team in certain quarters,” a TNCA official said.
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