Murali Vijay backs out from Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 due to personal reasons

Tamil Nadu opening batsman Murali Vijay has pulled out of the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, set to begin from January 10. The veteran cricketer has pulled out of the tournament due to personal reasons. 

Apart from Vijay, pacer K Vignesh was also not available for selection as he tested positive for COVID-19 according to reports in ESPNCricinfo. The duo has been replaced in the 26-member list of probables by L Suryaprakash, a 31-year-old batsman who has played three T20s, and RS Jaganath Srinivas, a 22-year-old medium-pacer with one first-class appearance.

Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy 2021

The Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy 2021 is scheduled to commence from January 10 onwards and will run until January 31. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently confirmed that India’s delayed 2020-21 domestic season will be launching with the T20 tournament. Several teams have already announced their list of probables, with former cricketer Yuvraj Singh coming out of retirement to likely play for Punjab again and speedster Sreesanth returning from his seven-year ban to make it to Kerala’s expanded squad.

The tournament was originally scheduled to be played between November and December. However, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic forced BCCI to shift the entire tournament to January next year. The three-week event is set to be played across seven different venues under a biosecure environment, with 38 teams set to compete for the coveted trophy.

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Venues

India's domestic T20 competition will be played at seven different venues, with bio-secure bubbles having already been created to ensure there is no lapse. Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Vadodara, Kolkata, and Indore will host the league matches of the competition. The knockout fixtures will be played at the newly built Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Tamil Nadu in 2021 season

The Dinesh Karthik-led side are in Elite Group B in the tournament along with Assam, Bengal, Hyderabad, Jharkhand, and Odisha, and will play all their matches in Kolkata.

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