Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Washington Sundar and T Natarajan to return to action with Tamil Nadu
Two of India’s Gabba win cast, Washington Sundar and T Natarajan have been added to the Tamil Nadu squad for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Sundar, who injured his left shoulder in August during his county stint with Lancashire, was forced to pull out of the India tour of Zimbabwe in what was yet another injury disappointment for the all-rounder who has had a few since he made his India debut.
The blow came at a bad time given Sundar’s display in just the two County Championship matches he played for Lancashire that included a 5/76 spell on debut and a 34* that helped his side in the chase against Northamptonshire. In the Royal London One Day Cup that followed, Sundar was only able to 30 runs in two innings and picked three wickets in three games.
Going into the domestic T20 season, Sundar has been given the added responsibility of being Tamil Nadu’s vice-captain. As far as the spin responsibilities go, he would have the support of Varun Chakravarthy.
Natarajan, who hasn’t played a single competitive game since IPL 2022, has been dealing with a recurring knee injury since the 2020/21 India tour of Australia. The left arm seamer, who was one of the biggest talking points of the across formats tour down under, will be pivotal to Tamil Nadu’s title defence.
A big miss for the state team would be captain Vijay Shankar, who is yet to recover from the shoulder surgery he underwent during IPL 2022. Replacing him as the team leader would be Baba Aparajith.
