CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu senior state selection committee led by S Vasudevan met at MA Chidambaram stadium on Tuesday and selected 20 players for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament to be played at Lucknow.
Dinesh Karthik will lead the side, while Vijay Shankar will be his deputy. The team was picked on the basis of the performances in the TNPL and VAP trophy. R Ashwin and Varun Chakravarthy who are part of the India T20 World Cup squad will miss the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament.
“The team has the right blend of experience and youth in its ranks. We picked the squad keeping in mind the format and the skill sets required for T20. We had a clear cut idea about how the composition of the team should keeping in mind the areas that the team needs to win the trophy,’’ said Vasudevan.
All-rounder Washington Sundar, who missed the IPL due to injury, and T Natarajan, who was down during the IPL due to Covid, have been named in the squad.
“Both are proven match winners and our team will certainly benefit from the presence of the duo. Washington will add depth to our batting and his ability to bowl anywhere is a big plus for us,’’ insisted Vasudevan.
The former Ranji Trophy winning captain is impressed by the talent pool in the state. There are quite a few youngsters who did well in the TNPL in the team. B Sai Sudharshan and P Saravana Kumar are the notable inclusions.
“Many youngsters grabbed the opportunity and impressed one and all with their performances. B Sai Sudarshan and Saravana Kumar are examples of players who rose to the occasion and proved their mettle. We have not just blindly gone and picked youngsters. We kept in mind their ability to graduate to the first class level/ List A level and also had a look at their skills sets for the format and picked them,’’ revealed the former left arm spinner with 214 first class wickets.
Tamil Nadu chief coach M Venkataramana, who has just been appointed as the new coach of Tamil Nadu, said he is pleased with the squad. He had coached the Dindigul Dragons in the TNPL in the past and is familiar with the players.
Squad: Dinesh Karthik (captain), Vijay Shankar (vc), Washington Sundar, T Natarajan, Sandeep Warrier, R Sai Kishore, B Aparajith, N Jagadeesan, M Ashwin, M Shahrukh Khan, C Hari Nishaanth, M Siddharth, V Ganga Sridhar Raju, M Mohammed, J Kousik, R Sanjay Yadav, R Silambarasan, R Vivek Raj, B Sai Sudharshan, P Saravana Kumar.