M Vijay set to return from shoulder injury

India batsman M Vijay has been named in Tamil Nadu's squad for their remaining matches in the south zone leg of the inter-state T20 tournament. This will mark Vijay's return to competitive cricket after spending more than a month on the sidelines with a shoulder injury he sustained during India's final Test against England in Chennai.

His first match is expected to be against Goa at the IC-Guru Nanak College ground in Chennai on Tuesday. Tamil Nadu have one win and a loss in their two outings so far.

Vijay, 32, replaced Dinesh Karthik, who will miss the rest of the tournament to attend his sister-in-law's wedding. Tamil Nadu chairman of selectors S Sharath confirmed Vijay's availability for the remaining matches.

Vijay injured his shoulder while fielding in the fifth and final Test against England, and didn't open the batting. He eventually came out to bat at No. 6 and made 29. On the third day of the Test, Vijay, along with R Ashwin, was included in Tamil Nadu's squad for their Ranji Trophy quarter-final clash against Karnataka, but were subsequently withdrawn three days later.

While Ashwin suffered from sports hernia, Vijay was deemed to not have recovered completely.

Meanwhile, Karthik didn't keep wicket during Tamil Nadu's 72-run loss to Hyderabad on Monday and N Jagadeesan stood behind the stumps in his stead. "Yesterday Karthik had a collision with [Baba] Aparajith while taking a run [against Karnataka]," Tamil Nadu coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar told ESPNcricinfo. "He had a bit of a trouble in crouching and moving, so that's the reason why he didn't keep wicket."

After the Goa game, Tamil Nadu have a one-day break before they take on Andhra (February 2) and Kerala (February 3).