Murali Vijay expresses disappointment after being dropped for the Vijay Hazare Trophy

India opener Murali Vijay has expressed deep resentment after he was left out of Tamil Nadu’s squad for the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy. Earlier during the tournament, Vijay had opted out for Group C encounter against Mumbai citing “shoulder pain.” However, the 33-year-old didn’t keep the association authorities in the loop on the developments. The move didn’t go down well as the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) made it clear that neither the selection committee nor the team physio was aware of Vijay’s injury. Thereafter, the TNCA took the decision of leaving Vijay out for the remainder of the 50-over tournament.

The top-order batsman has played just two matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy scoring 11 and 51 against Gujarat and Goa respectively. His place for the remainder of the tournament has now been given to batsman Pradosh Ranjan. Speaking of the outcome, Vijay said, “I just feel sad for whatever that has happened. Things could have been handled better. I’m set to talk with the TNCA officials soon and I feel things will be fine,” he said in an interaction with TOI.

He added, “I felt let down that my commitment was questioned and I was hurt. I love playing for Tamil Nadu and take a lot of pride in representing the state. My dream is to win the Ranji Trophy for TN and I’m confident it will happen.”

Vijay’s decision put Tamil Nadu under an extreme duress

Vijay, who was supposed to report at the SSN College ground did not turn up at the scheduled time. The first word from his side only arrived in coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar at about 7.30 AM with only an hour and a half left for play to start.

Tamil Nadu was already affected by an injury to opener Abhinav Mukund who had suffered a hamstring injury and Vijay’s abrupt absence put them in extreme distress. Eventually, Ganga Sridhar Raju was brought in to fill the void alongside Kaushik Gandhi.