South Zone have made two major changes to their squad ahead of the Duleep Trophy 2025 final. With N Jagadeesan and Devdutt Padikkal drafted into the India A side for the unofficial Test series against Australia A, Tamil Nadu’s Andre Siddarth and Karnataka’s Smaran Ravichandran have been named as replacements.
Ricky Bhui has also been appointed as the new vice-captain for the final. The absence of Jagadeesan will be a significant blow for South Zone. The wicketkeeper-batter was the star performer in their semifinal win over North Zone.
He scored a brilliant 197 in the first innings, giving his side the crucial advantage, and followed it up with an unbeaten 52 in the second innings. His all-round contribution earned him the Player of the Match award and played a decisive role in guiding South Zone into the final.
To provide further depth, Ajay Rohera from Pondicherry and Aniket Reddy from Hyderabad have been added as standby players. This ensures that the team has sufficient backup options if required.
South Zone will now lock horns with Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy final, starting September 11 at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.
South Zone squad: Azharuddin (C & WK), Ricky Bhui (VC), Smaran Ravichandran, Kale M, Sheikh Rasheed, Tanmay Agarwal, Salman Nizar, Andrew Siddarth, Tanay Thyagarajan, Gurjabneet Singh, Nidheesh, Kaushik V, Ankit Sharma, T Vijay, Basil NP
Stand-bys: Mohit Redkar, Snehal Kautankar , Eden Apple Tom, Ajay Rohera , G Anikeeth Reddy.
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