The Duleep Trophy, a prominent tournament in Indian domestic cricket, is currently underway. The upcoming semifinals, scheduled to commence on September 4th, have seen a significant setback for one team. Their captain has been ruled out of the tournament. This player has been selected for the Indian team for the Asia Cup 2025, preventing his participation in this crucial match. A new captain has been announced.
Tilak Varma, a star batsman for Team India, will not be part of the Duleep Trophy. Mohammad Azharuddeen, a batsman from Kerala, has been appointed as the new captain of South Zone for the Duleep Trophy semifinals. Varma’s inclusion in the Indian team for the upcoming Asia Cup has led to his unavailability for the Duleep Trophy. This semifinal encounter will take place at the BCCI Center of Excellence, starting September 4th against North Zone.
Azharuddeen, formerly the vice-captain of South Zone, will now lead the team. N. Jagadeesan of Tamil Nadu has been assigned the vice-captaincy role. Furthermore, South Zone has suffered another blow as R. Sai Kishore, a left-arm spinner from Tamil Nadu, has been ruled out of the semifinals due to injury. Sai Kishore was also unable to play in the recent Buchi Babu Trophy because his hand injury hasn’t fully healed.
South Zone has brought in two new players to their team. Ankit Sharma, a left-arm spinner from Puducherry, and Sheikh Rasheed, a young batsman from Andhra Pradesh, have been promoted from the standby list to the main team. Rasheed was recently included in the Chennai Super Kings team for IPL 2025.
South Zone’s New Squad: Mohammad Azharuddeen (Captain), Tanmay Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal, Mohit Kale, Salman Nizar, Narayan Jagadeesan, Tripura Vijay, Tanay Tyagarajan, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Nidhish MD, Ricky Bhui, Basil NP, Gurjapneet Singh, Snehal Kauthankar, Ankit Sharma, Sheikh Rasheed.
Standby Players: Mohit Redkar, R. Samaran, Aiden Apple Tom, Andre Siddharth.