Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Karthik, Shankar in TN probables

Out-of-favour India players Dinesh Karthik, Murali Vijay and Vijay Shankar were on Wednesday named in a 26-strong probables list by Tamil Nadu for next month's Syed Musthaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament.

Batsman KB Arun Karthick, who returns to play for Tamil Nadu after a gap of seven years, and medium-pacer Sandeep Warrier, who moved from Kerala ahead of the season, have also been included in the list, according to a Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) release.

Senior India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, all-rounder Washington Sundar and left-arm pacer T Natarajan miss out as they are in Australia on national duty.

The players picked by the men's senior state selection committee of the TNCA also includes medium-pacer Aswin Crist, who last represented the state in February 2018 and returns after recovering from injury.

The selected players will play three practice matches on December 19, 20 and 21 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in the city.

Chairman of selectors S Vasudevan said the players were selected on the basis of their last year's performance.

"We have chosen the players based on last year's performance. It is a balanced one with a mix of experience and youth," Vasudevan told PTI.

The final squad will be picked on December 21.

Meanwhile, a TNCA official said they were awaiting word on the actual size of the squad for the tournament from the BCCI.

The BCCI had to postpone the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy to January 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tournament is set to be played across six states under-bio secure environment from January 10 to 31.

Tamil Nadu probables: Dinesh Karthik, M Vijay, B  Aparajith, B Indrajith, Vijay Shankar, M Shahrukh Khan, C Hari Nishaanth, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, K B Arun Karthik, Akshay V Srinivasan, N Jagadeesan, M Abhinav, Aswin Crist, M Mohammed, G Periyasamy, Sandeep Warrier, S Harish Kumar, K Vignesh, R Silambarasan, J Kousik, R Sonu Yadav, M Ashwin, R Sai Kishore, M Siddharth, L Sathiyannaarayanan and M E Yazh Arun Mozhi.