M Vijay Abhinav Mukund TN Cricket

The Two Former India Openers seem to have made a quiet exit from the TN cricket scene- The two have not played even the league matches this year

Vijay played over 60 Tests for India, while Abhinav Mukund played over a 100 Ranji matches for TN

Abhinav has made a bright start to his commentary career this year just as he had with his playing career 

M Vijay and M Abhinav (Abhinav Mukund) made contrasting entries into international cricket. While Abhinav began playing cricket at the age of five, coached by his father, Vijay was a late bloomer making his mark in cricket well after he was 20. Abhinav made his Ranji Debut as a teenager and within the next few years, he also made his Test Debut. Though Vijay started out late, he went on to make a big impact playing over 60 Tests and was a regular in the India squad for a long time over the last decade.

Abhinav did not enjoy the same success at the international level. After a debut in the West Indies, he opened and performed well against an English pace attack at its best in home conditions.  But was out once again for another three years. In his last test match, he made 80 getting out in the last over of the day against Sri Lanka.

Vijay made an impact in T20 cricket as well making important contributions at the top of the order along with Mathew Hayden early on for CSK. Abhinav remained a non starter in T20 but he did have a remarkable run in domestic cricket amassing runs especially in the first half of his career. He went on to play over a 100 matches for TN.

Vijay into a 'Silent' period

After Vijay was dropped from the India team after the tours of England and Australia and then subsequently from the CSK team as well, he made himself unavailable for the domestic season last year citing personal reasons which the selectors have held have not yet been elaborated. Since then, over the last 12 months he has not played much cricket including in the local first division league and has also not been considered for TN for the T20 tournament. In his case, the fact that he has not been vaccinated has made him ineligible for Selection.

With the focus of the new Selection committee led by former Ranji Trophy winning captain S Vasudevan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/06/vasudevan-tn-ranji-trophy-retirement.html )being on identifying and grooming youngsters, it is unlikely that the 37 year old Vijay will get another look in and the non selection in the TN T20 team could signal the end of the road for him in cricket.

Makes a bright start as a TV Commentator

With the Pandemic leading to just the T20 and One day domestic tournaments last year,  Abhinav has eased into the role of a TV commentator and has made just as bright a start to his commentary career as he had as a player way back in 2007. It is heard that Abhinav (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/01/abhinav-mukund-100-ranji-matches.html) has moved to Bombay and it is likely that he will be focusing on a career in TV commentary where he has already begun impressing the viewers with his expert views like his best friend DK.

Both Vijay and Abhinav did not play the knock outs of the Palayampatti Shield and also have not played in the first part of the new first division league season and the two have not played any matches in the last 18months that by itself should rule them out of contention for TN.

It is interesting that these former India openers, who both opened together for TN and India in the same year, are making a quiet and almost unannounced exit from TN cricket giving way to the next generation of openers. Both of them have not yet formally announced their retirement. 

Over the last decade or so, both M Vijay and Abhinav Mukund have made significant contributions to the TN team but they seem to have realised quickly that it is now time to move on and both have quietly let go of domestic cricket. In Abhinav's case, he seems to have made a clear move into commentary and bigger days await him in this new phase in his career.

It will leave the TN selectors in a fix if Abhinav makes himself available for the Ranji Trophy that is slated for January, especially given that the new crop of youngsters are beginning to do really well and the team spirit is building up.

This section will track the developments.