CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu senior state selection committee led by S Vasudevan met on Wednesday
at MA Chidambaram Stadium and selected 26 probables for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The domestic T20 tournament, which begins next month, will be played at six centers across the country. The selected players will play three practice matches on December 19, 20 and 21 at MA Chidambaram Stadium.
"The list of probables has the right mix of experience and youth. We have included several youngsters like Sonu Yadav, L Sathiyannaarayanan, Akshay V Srinivasan, ME Yazh Arun Mozhi. All of them have done well in the domestic circuit.
We would like to have a look at all the young players and then pick the final squad,'' said Vasudevan.
Vijay Shankar, who got injured during the IPL, has recovered and was named in the list. KB Arun Karthik and Sandeep Warrier also found a place. Karthik moved to Tamil Nadu from Puducherry while Warrier has shifted from Kerala this season.
R Ashwin, T Natarajan and Washington Sundar, who are in Australia, were not named in the list. Varun Chakravarthy, who is yet to recover from shoulder injury, has also not been considered.
"We have given an opportunity to Arun Karthik and Sandeep to play the practice games so that we can have a look at them. Taking into consideration players' availability and keeping the format in mind, this is the best talent pool we have at the moment,'' said Vasudevan. He also clarified that Abhinav Mukund was
not considered as the Tamil Nadu opener has been playing only Ranji Trophy and 50-over format.
Tamil Nadu chief coach D Vasu is happy with the choice of the selectors. "They (selectors) have covered all the bases and have given a good pool of players to watch and pick for the T20 tournament. The list has a lot of experienced players who have done well in T20s and also some budding youngsters,'' said Vasu.
Speaking on the practice matches, he said, "The three practice games will serve as selection trials and the players must take these matches seriously and perform. We are going to have a look at them after a long time, so they need to excel and be at their best. For youngsters, it's a good opportunity to make an impression and bag the slots which are available due to the non-availability of some players.''
Probables
Dinesh Karthik, M Vijay, B Aparajith, B Indrajith, Vijay Shankar, M Shahrukh Khan, C Hari Nishaanth, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, KB Arun Karthik, Akshay V Srinivasan, N Jagadeesan, M Abhinav, Ashwin Crist, M. Mohammed, G Periyasamy, Sandeep Warrier, S Harish Kumar, K Vignesh, R Silambarasan, J Kousik, R Sonu Yadav, M Ashwin, R Sai Kishore, M Siddharth, L Sathiyannaarayanan, ME Yazh Arun Mozhi.