Vijay to return from injury lay-off in inter-state T20 tournament

Indian batsman Murali Vijay, who spent more than a month on the sidelines with a shoulder injury, is all set to make a return to competitive cricket after being named in Tamil Nadu's squad for their remaining matches in the south zone leg of the inter-state T20 tournament.

The 32-year-old, who sustained the injury during India's final Test against England in Chennai, will replace Dinesh Karthik, who will miss the rest of the tournament in order to attend his sister-in-law's wedding.

Tamil Nadu chairman of selectors S Sharath confirmed the news of Vijay's availability for the rest of the matches.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar revealed as to why Karthik didn't keep wicket during Tamil Nadu's 72-run defeat 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]. He had a bit of a trouble in crouching and moving, so that's the reason why he didn't keep wickets," ESPNcricinfo quoted Kanitkar as saying.

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