Published: Oct 04, 2017, 08:39 PM (IST)
Edited: Oct 04, 2017, 09:08 PM (IST)
Abhinav Mukund has been named captain of the Tamil Nadu side for the upcoming Ranji Trophy season. There were speculations that the honour might be bestowed upon Vijay Shankar, who is the side’s limited-overs skipper. However, the selectors opted for experience and went for Mukund, who had led the team to the semi-final last season. Prolific run-maker Baba Indrajith has been named the vice-captain of the side.
The star-studded Tamil Nadu will start their campaign against Andhra at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on October 6. While they will receive the services of Murali Vijay and Ravichandran Ashwin, they will miss Dinesh Karthik, who recently led India Red to Duleep Trophy title, and Vijay Shankar. Both players will be serving India A.
“To have two Test cricketers — Vijay and Ashwin — back in the squad is amazing. The good thing about this Tamil Nadu side is that the top seven have done well at the top and this has been possible due to the strong showing of the team in the last season,” Mukund told The Times of India after the team’s practice at Chepauk on Tuesday .
Earlier, Mukund, who was named the India Red captain, had to miss the Duleep Trophy due to dengue. He played a Test for India in Sri Lanka where he got 84 in the second innings. He is now looking forward to continue the hard work. He was also in praise of his coach: “I have a great working relationship with our coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar. Also, I can be a good bridge between the senior cricketers and junior players since I have played with each one of them. The best thing about this team is that a lot of players are trying to make the higher grade (India A or the national team).”
Tamil Nadu squad: Abhinav Mukund (c), Baba Indrajith (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Murali Vijay, Kaushik Gandhi, Narayan Jagadeesan (wk), Baba Aparajith, Washington Sundar, Rahil Shah, K Vignesh, L Vignesh, Sai Kishore, V Lakshman, R Rohith (wk) and Malolan Rangarajan.
