Ravichandran Ashwin and Murali Vijay likely to be unavailable for Tamil Nadu's semi-final clash

Tamil Nadu will likely to miss the service of their star cricketers, Ravichandran Ashwin and Murali Vijay in the all-important semi-final clash where they will meet the winner of the ongoing Mumbai – Hyderabad quarter-final fixture at Rajkot from January 1. The duo didn’t take part in the quarter-final match due to injuries and are yet achieve full match fitness.

It was a historic moment for the Abhinav Mukund-led young side when they beat Karnataka in the lopsided South Indian derby to reach the semi-final of India’s most prestigious domestic for the first time in 13 years.

According to Times of India, the duo may struggle to regain fitness before the semifinals and is likely to sit out of the match. Ashwin is suffering from Sports Hernia while Murali Vijay is nursing a shoulder injury which he sustained during the day 2 of the fifth Test between India and England in Chennai.

“Ashwin, in all probability, is ruled out of the semis. If you are suffering from Sports Hernia, it takes 2-3 weeks to heal. Ashwin will surely need rest before the ODI series against England. And now that he is travelling, it would take a toll on his body.So we believe that he is unlikely to be fit for the semis,“ a source close to TNCA told TOI.

Though Ashwin is completely ruled out, a final call is yet to be taken on Vijay. The team management is ready to pick Vijay in the XI even if he is 80 % fit as he just needs to bat once and field in the slips.

“As far as we understand, it will take another two weeks for Vijay’s shoulder to heal completely. We haven’t really spoken to him for the last few days. We had told him to intimate us about the status of his injury. But he is yet to get back. So we are guessing that he might not have recovered yet. Vijay will only need to bat and he can field in the slips. So even if he recovers 80 %, he is welcome to join the side. Things will only get clear in the next couple of days,“ added the source.

Tamil Nadu skipper Abhinav Mukund, who didn’t take the field and batted lower down the order in both the innings (did not bat in the second innings) against Karnataka due to fever, is likely to be fit in time for the semis.

“He has a throat infection. It might have resulted from contaminated water. That Tamil Nadu won the quarter-final within two days has been a blessing in disguise. Abhinav will get three days of proper rest before we leave for Rajkot to play the semis.So he is expected to be fine by then,“ the source concluded.

Tamil Nadu will look to end their 28-year title drought by winning this season’s Ranji Trophy.