Tamil Nadu squad for Gopalan Trophy announced

There will be two Tamil Nadu teams for the trip to Sri Lanka for the revived Gopalan Trophy. While a 13-member team has been named to play the three one day matches for the newly instituted Vernoon G Prins Trophy, a 15-member side has been named to participate in the four day game for the Gopalan Trophy.

Announcing this at a press conference in Chennai on Monday, Ashok Kumbhat, secretary, Tamil Nadu Cricket Association said this had been necessitated because six players from the state had been included in the list of 23 probables to attend the preparatory camp which commences at Chennai on September 14. The Tamil Nadu team will leave for Sri Lanka on September 19. To start with, the team will play three one-dayers against the Colombo District Cricket Association. The first two One-day games, to be played on September 20 and 21 will be played at the Premadasa Stadium. These are day night games. The final match will be at the Colombo Cricket Club and will be a day game. The team winning the three match series will be awarded the Vernoon G Prins Trophy.

The six players from the state who will be attending the camp will be unable to take part in the One Dayers. They will however join the Tamil Nadu squad in time for the Gopalan Trophy match against the Colombo District Cricket Association which commences on September 25. Kumbhat added that he had been assured that at least five or six cricketers who have represented Sri Lanka will take part in the game. Interestingly, the coach of the current Tamil Nadu team K Bharat Kumar took part in the last MJ Gopalan Trophy game in 1983 as a player.

Kumbhat also announced that there would be a get together on September 18 to wish the team bon voyage and the chief guest will be MJ Gopalan himself. The Gopalan Trophy is being revived after a gap of 17 years.

The squad for the Vernoon G Prins Trophy: Aashish Kapoor (captain), S Sharath, WD Balaji Rao, C Hemanth Kumar, S Mahesh, Rajat Bhatia, JR Madanagopal, MR Shrinivas, S Badrinath, R Satish, DJ Gokulakrishnan, S Vasant Saravanan, Vikram Kumar.

The squad for the MJ Gopalan Trophy: Robin Singh, S Sriram, Hemang K Badani, S Sharath, Reuben Paul, T Kumaran, S Ramesh, WD Balaji Rao, Aashish Kapoor, S Mahesh, Rajat Bhatia, JR Madanagopal, MR Shrinivas, S Badrinath, R Satish.