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Badrinath to lead young Tamil Nadu

S Badrinath has been retained as Tamil Nadu's captain for the coming Ranji season. Apart from Badrinath and Dinesh Karthik, Tamil Nadu will have a largely inexperienced squad, with only five players who have played more than 10 first-class matches



Retained as captain: S Badrinath © Cricinfo Ltd
S Badrinath has been retained as Tamil Nadu's captain for the coming Ranji season. Apart from Badrinath and Dinesh Karthik, Tamil Nadu will have a largely inexperienced squad, with only five players who have played more than 10 first-class matches. L Balaji, the former Test medium-fast bowler, has been left out of the squad that was picked for the first two matches. The management plans to ease him back into competitive cricket as the season progresses.

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Even among the experienced players, Badrinath, Karthik and Yo Mahesh will be the first targets for India A teams, if not the national team in the case of the former two. Offspinner R Ashwin, who has taken 34 wickets in the five matches he has played, might be the one to lead in their absence.

In the absence of T Kumaran, who was one of the seven players to have joined the Indian Cricket League (ICL), the pace attack will have to be spearheaded by Mahesh. C Ganapathy, the right-arm medium-pacer and Ramadoss Naresh, the left-arm medium-pacer, are the two other experienced pacers. Murali Vijay, the right-hand opener, who impressed in his debut season last year, will be the main hope in the batting department, along with Badrinath, Karthik and S Anirudha, who played in the Challenger Trophy.

Squad: S Badrinath (capt), M Vijay, S Anirudha, Dinesh Karthik, Kuthethurshri Vasudevadas, R Prasanna, R Ashwin, C Ganapathy, V Yo Mahesh, R Naresh, R Srinivasan, P Amarnath, R Ramkumar, Abhinav Mukund and KH Gopinath

S BadrinathIndiaRanji Trophy Super LeagueIndia Domestic Season