The Duleep Trophy is currently being played in Indian domestic cricket. The semifinals of this tournament are scheduled to begin on September 4th. Just before these major matches, one team has faced a setback. The team’s captain has been ruled out of the tournament because the player has been selected to represent India in the Asia Cup 2025, preventing his participation. A new captain has been announced.
Tilak Varma, a prominent batsman for Team India, has been withdrawn from the Duleep Trophy. Mohammad Azharuddeen, a batsman from Kerala, has been named the new captain of South Zone for the Duleep Trophy semifinals. Varma’s selection for the upcoming Asia Cup has made him unavailable for the Duleep Trophy. This semifinal match will take place at the BCCI Center of Excellence starting September 4th, against North Zone.
Azharuddeen, previously the vice-captain of South Zone, will now lead the team. N. Jagadeesan from Tamil Nadu has been given the responsibility of vice-captain. Additionally, South Zone faces another setback as R. Sai Kishore, a left-arm spinner from Tamil Nadu, is out of the semifinals due to injury. Sai Kishore was also unable to participate in the recent Buchi Babu Trophy because his hand injury is not fully recovered.
South Zone has included two new players in their team. Ankit Sharma, a left-arm spinner from Puducherry, and Sheikh Rasheed, a young batsman from Andhra Pradesh, have been moved 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.