Tamil Nadu team in action [PC: Twitter]
The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA), on Wednesday, announced a 15-man squad for the upcoming 2022 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT).
The team will be led by Baba Aparajith, with spinning all-rounder Washington Sundar acting as his deputy. Sundar is returning from an injury he sustained during his County stint with Lancashire.
Former Tamil Nadu captain S Vasudevan, who is heading the TN state senior selection committee, included T Natarajan in the squad while leaving out the likes of Vijay Shankar, M Mohammed, and J Kousik.
Shankar is still not fully-fit after suffering an injury during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, playing for winners Gujarat Titans.
Vijay Shankar has missed the cut [PC: Twitter]
Selectors have also included Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan, Sai Kishore, Varun Chakravarthy, and M Ashwin, ensuring there is a depth of experience in the absence of Baba Indrajith, Jagadeesan, Dinesh Karthik, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Shankar.
J Suresh Kumar and G Ajitesh have been called into the setup seeing their performances in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL).
Tamil Nadu Squad for SMAT 2022
B Aparajith (c), Washington Sundar (vc), B Sai Sudharsan, T Natarajan, M Shahrukh Khan, R Sai Kishore, R Sanjay Yadav, Sandeep Warrier, M Siddharth, Varun Chakravarthy, J Suresh Kumar, C Hari Nishaanth, R Silambarasan, M Ashwin, and G Ajitesh.
Tamil Nadu have been placed in Elite Group E, alongside Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Sikkim, Bengal, Jharkhand, and Chandigarh. The two-time SMAT champions will play their tournament opener against Chhattisgarh on October 11.
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