Golf as a sport is viewed as a costly affair, but many former cricketers give it a go. Indian players like Kapil Dev and few more have taken to the game to check their swing of a different kind. The game of golf is avidly followed as the course and the way it is supposed to be played. Chennai is going to witness a golf tournament where a former India player and a Chennai Super Kings player are scheduled to take part in the tournament.
The story as it happened -
Former India opener, Murali Vijay and his one time CSK team mate Aniruddha Srikkanth are 2 of the 3 amateurs who are scheduled to take part in the Chennai Open. The golf tournament started on Tuesday. A total of 126 golfers are expected to be part of the tournament, with 123 off them being professionals. Vijay and Aniruddha Srikkanth (son of former opener Kris Srikkanth) are the amateurs.
Change of sport for Vijay?
Murali Vijay hasn’t played international cricket since 2018, when he was part of the Indian team to tour Australia. His last test match was at the OPTUS stadium at Perth and he was then benched due to lack of form. Vijay, was replaced by Mayank Agarwal who usurped his place as the opener of the team. Vijay then played the IPL for CSK in 2020 before taking a short break from the sport. The 38 year old was back on the field when he played the Tamil Nadu Premier League where he was playing for the Ruby Trichy team.
PGTI has its say –
Uttam Singh Munday who is the CEO for PGTI said while speaking to the media "The PGTI makes its long-awaited return to the city of Chennai, a major golfing hub. The new venue, the TNGF golf course is sure to serve up a new set of challenges for the professionals. An enthralling week of golf thus lies in prospect."
Aniruddha Srikkanth played a few games for CSK before being discared, the right hander is the son of former world cup winner Kris Srikkanth. Aniruddha, like his father was an aggressive right handed opening batter. Vijay, on the other hand isn’t likely to make it back to the Indian team as he is likely to end his test career 18 run short of 4000 test match runs.