Tamil Nadu is a state which is a unique case study. There have been some players that have come from there that have dominated world cricket for years. Right from the 1970s till recently there has been one cricketer from that State that has played for India. However there has not been a constant flow of players like with Karnataka, Gujarat etc. Washington Sundar and T Natarajan are currently playing for India are from Tamil Nadu.
Let’s look at the 5 Cricketers to play for India from Tamil Nadu
Ravichandran Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin is easily the greatest cricketer from Tamil Nadu that has played for India. He is a multi time ICC Tournament Winner. He has recently retired from cricket. He has played 106 Test Matches for India. Ashwin has taken 537 Test Wickets. He has taken 37 Five Wicket Hauls and 8 times he has taken 10 Wickets in a Test Match. He has also made 3503 runs with 6 hundreds in Test Cricket. Ashwin has also played 116 ODIs In which he has taken 156 wickets. He has also taken 72 wickets in T20IS for India. Ravichandran Ashwin has taken 765 wickets in international cricket.
Krishnamachari Srikkanth
The 1983 World Cup winning opening batsman for India also hails from Tamil Nadu. Krishnamachari Srikkanth was the first opening batter that attacked from ball 1. He played 43 Test Matches for India in his career. He made 2062 runs and he hit 2 centuries in Test Cricket. He played 146 ODIs for India. He scored 4091 runs in which he hit 4 hundreds for India. He was a batter that inspired the likes of Virender Sehwag to attack early even in Test Cricket. He was the opening partner for the great Sunil Gavaskar.
Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik is one of the most popular cricketers from Tamil Nadu. He played for a while for India but his career in broadcasting has earned him a lot of fans. He played 26 Test Matches for India. He made 1025 runs and in those matches he made a century in Test Cricket. Dinesh Karthik also played in 94 ODIs for India. He scored 1752 runs. In the 60 T20Is he played for India, he made 686 runs. Dinesh Karthik scored more than 3000 international runs for India in his career.
Murali Vijay
Murali Vijay is one of the most underrated opening Batters to play Test Cricket for India. He is also from Tamil Nadu. He has played 61 Test Matches for India in his career. He scored 3982 runs. Murali Vijay hit 12 hundreds in Test Cricket for India. He has a highest score of 167. He could have played more but India wanted attacking options and he was left out of the team. Murali Vijay did not play much ODI Cricket as he only played 17 ODIs for India. Murali Vijay was one of the most dependable opening batters for India. A rare gem of a player from Chennai.
Washington Sundar
He is the representative of the current crop of players from Tamil Nadu who play for India. He has suffered multiple injuries whenever he had any momentum. He has so far played in 15 Test Matches where he has taken 35 wickets. He has also made 761 runs including a hundred in Test Cricket. He has played 24 ODIs and 34 T20IS for India. He has taken 25 wickets and 48 wickets respectively in both formats. He will play for many more years and is a direct replacement for Ravichandran Ashwin.
