After a finger injury ruled him out of the Test series in England, the Indian Premier League and the T20 World Cup, all-rounder Washington Sundar has staged a comeback to the Tamil Nadu squad for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, which begins on November 4.
Defending champions Tamil Nadu, who defeated Baroda in the final of the 2020-21 edition of the event, will be led by Dinesh Karthik. All-rounder Vijay Shankar has been named as vice-captain after missing out in the current edition of the Premier League..
Natarajan, who had a fantastic season last year in the IPL, and made an entry into the Indian squad, looks to get back on track, after taking a forced hiatus due to injury. Needing surgery to recover from a knee injury, the yorker-specialist missed the first leg of the IPL in addition to the T20I series against England in March.
Both Natarajan and Washington would be aiming to make it back into the national side, and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy would be the perfect platform to throw their names into the hat.
India have a succession of limited-overs events following the T20 World Cup, beginning with the T20 series against New Zealand from November 17. Given that the players who would have played the World Cup could be experiencing bio-bubble fatigue, it is possible that a few new faces make it into the India squad.
Tamil Nadu kick off their campaign in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on November 4, when they take on Maharashtra. Group A also includes the likes of Goa, Punjab, Puducherry and Odisha.
Major names in the Tamil Nadu squad also include Shahrukh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, and R Sai Kishore. Batsman B Sai Sudharsan and pacer P Saravana Kumar, who showed promise for the Kovai Kings and the Ruby Trichy Warriors in the TNPL, have also been named in the squad.
