TNPL 2018: Update on the availability of Dinesh Karthik, Ashwin and Sundar for the tournament

The Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) Player Draft is currently in progress for the upcoming season and there is a lot of excitement about the participation of the Indian players in the tournament. The likes of Dinesh Karthik, R Ashwin and Washington Sundar will most likely feature in the league and an update on their availability was provided during the player draft on Thursday.

Sundar, the off-spinner, who played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) will play for Tuti Patriots again this season. But he won’t be available for the first couple of matches for his team as he is part of the national team which will be in the middle of the England tour. Sundar has been picked in both ODI and T20I squads and the limited-overs leg of the tour will finish on July 17 after which he will join the league.

“I won’t be available for the first two matches, after that I’m pretty sure I’ll be available for the rest of the tournament,” the youngster was quoted as saying during the draft by Sportskeeda.

What about Ashwin and Karthik?

As far as R Ashwin is concerned, he will be available for the first few matches of the TNPL and then will leave the tournament mid-way based on his selection in the Test squad for the five-match series against England. The offie is the lead spinner of the team and he will be certainly picked for one of the toughest tours of the Men in Blue.

“Ashwin will be available for first few games, after that he has national duties. Not aware of the exact dates, but certainly for the first few games, he’ll be available. Ashwin is our captain and Jagadeesan our vice-captain. He (Jagadeesan) will take-over as the captain when Ashwin leaves,” the owner of the Dindigul Dragons aid.

However, the big question mark is over the availability of Dinesh Karthik as there is a possibility that he will be named in the Test side as well and if that happens, he won’t be able to play a single game for his new team Karaikudi Kaalai this season.

“We initially thought that we’ll be going in with four capped players. When others went for all the best options, so we thought that even if not this year, then next year he (Karthik) can play for us and it would be good to have him during sessions. Our captain, most probably, would be Anirudha Srikanth (in Karthik’s absence),” Kalaai owner added.

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