Murali Vijay to miss the last league game of Duleep Trophy

India star opener Murali Vijay will miss the last game of the league stage of the ongoing Duleep Trophy, the Indian domestic tournament. The name of the batsman was missing from the team sheets that were provided ahead of the game. Vijay was the part of the India Green team for the tournament which lost their first match against India Red.

Murali Vijay played the first game of the competition but could hardly contribute with the bat. He could only muster 17 runs across innings. However, he shone with the ball in hand and scalped as many as 5 wickets with his unorthodox action. India Green will lock horns with India Blue in the must-win encounter for both the sides. The former need to win the game at any cost as they are yet to earn a point while the latter would qualify even the match is drawn with already 3 points on the board.

Injury prone Vijay

While the reason for Murali Vijay’s absence from the team, he has been a bit injury prone this year. He was ruled out of this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) which started soon after the Test series against Australia due to the wrist injury. Then the batsman was set to make his comeback for Sri Lanka tour. He was included in the squad as well for the 3 match Test series but a week before the start of the series, he withdrew from the series due to pain in the wrist.

But the 33-year-old featured in Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) and played 4 matches to announce his return to competitive cricket. Now, after missing the last match of Duleep Trophy, he could be eyeing the upcoming season of Ranji Trophy which is set to commence from October 6.

Vijay will look to make his return to the national side for the Test series against Sri Lanka at home with a successful stint in Ranji Trophy. But he might have to warm the bench given Shikhar Dhawan’s performance against the same opponents in their own den was fantastic and he also received the Man of the Series award. Also, KL Rahul is in a scintillating form which should make Vijay’s inclusion a point to debate for the selectors.