CHENNAI: Dinesh Karthik’s return headlined Tamil Nadu's squad for Vijay Hazare Trophy, which begins on December 8. Vijay Shankar, who successfully defended the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 title on Monday, will remain captain of the side as the selectors have chosen to go with continuity in white-ball cricket. The only notable omission is T Natarajan, who will head to the National Cricket Academy, as he continues to struggle with fitness issues.
In the 20-member squad announced on Tuesday, the selectors have also included all-rounder Washington Sundar, who sat out the Mushtaq Ali T20s because of finger injury. Tamil Nadu are placed in Elite Group B alongside defending champions Mumbai, Baroda, Bengal, Karnataka and Pondicherry and will play their group matches at Thiruvananathapuram. The knockout stages will be held in Chennai from December 21-27. With MA Chidambaram Stadium set to undergo renovation, the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association will make use of the other venues in the city after taking stock of the ground situation in the wake of the recent rains.
N Jagadeesan is vice-captain. Baba Aparajith who is with India will join the team if they make it knockouts.
Squad: Vijay Shankar (c), N Jagadeesan (vc), Dinesh Karthik, C Hari Nishaanth, M Shahrukh Khan, R Sai Kishore, M Ashwin, Sandeep Warrier, MS Washington Sundar, M Siddharth, B Sai Sudharsan, V Ganga Sridhar Raju, M Mohammed, J Kousik, P Saravana Kumar, L Suryapprakash, B Indrajith, R Sanjay Yadav, M Kaushik Gandhi, R Silambarasan.