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TN likely to dominate Punjab

Special Correspondent

AMRITSAR: Skipper Dinesh Karthik and opener Murali Vijay will strengthen the Tamil Nadu campaign in its four-day Ranji Trophy super league match against Punjab to be played at the Gandhi ground here from Tuesday.

The availability of Abhinav Mukund, who missed the previous match against Gujarat, raises hopes of a Tamil Nadu domination against a relatively weak opposition even though the pitch is expected to be on the slower side.

“Dinesh Karthik will play the match,” confirmed the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association secretary K. S. Viswanathan. The wicketkeeper-batsman had been slapped with a one-match ban for arguing with the umpires during the last match.

“There is a procedure for an appeal and Karthik has done so. Until a decision is taken on the appeal, he can play. We have also received a communication from the BCCI in this regard,” said Mr. Viswanathan.

Vijay was in the Indian Test 15 for the first two matches against Sri Lanka but was released to play this Ranji Trophy match while Mukund missed the last match following selection to the Board President’s XI team for the three-day fixture against Sri Lanka.

Punjab has its task cut out. “We are going through a transition period. We have a few talented youngsters and this is the opportunity for them to grab the places,” said Punjab coach Bhupinder Singh (Sr).

Punjab will have a debutant in medium-pacer Bharat Loomba even as Pankaj Dharmani, who made his debut in 1992-93, continues to share his experience in a team that has struggled to raise a decent combination in the past few years.

The teams (from): Tamil Nadu: D. Karthik (captain), M. Vijay, A. Mukund, K.B. Arun Karthik, S. Suresh Kumar, L. Balaji, A. Srinivas, R. Satish, R. Ashwin, C. Ganapathy, Kaushik Gandhi, S. Anirudha, U. Sushil, P. Suthesh and V. Yomahesh.

Punjab: Ankur Kakkar (captain), Ravi Inder Singh, Vishwas Bhalla, Uday Kaul, Chandan Madan, P. Dharmani, Gaurav Gambhir, Bharat Loomba, Love Abhilash, Varun Khanna, Sarabjit Ladda, Sunny Sohal, Taruwar Kohli, Manpreet Goni and Rahul Sharma.

Umpires: Messrs K. Hariharan and S. Asnani; Match referee: Mr. Shakti Singh.

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