The South Zone Associations have named a strong 15-member squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy 2023 which mark the commencement of India's domestic season. Out-of-favour India batter Hanuma Vihari, who has played 16 Test matches for the senior men's national side, has been appointed as the captain of South Zone. Mayank Agarwal, who has also fallen behind in the pecking order for Team India, has been named as Vihari's deputy for the competition.
Two Indian Premier League (IPL) sensations - Tilak Varma and Sai Sudharsan - who are deemed to be future superstars of Indian cricket have been named in South Zone's 15-member squad. Both batters rose to significance after displaying great stroke-making skills in the last couple of editions of the IPL.
A fit-again Washington Sundar will make a comeback to competitive cricket while current India Test keeper KS Bharat is expected to keep wickets. Sundar, who was becoming a regular feature in Team India across formats before suffering a string of injuries, would look to make a strong case for his recall in the senior men's national side.
Bharat, on the flip side, was part of the Indian side that recently tasted defeat in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia. The wicketkeeper-batter was terrific behind the stumps but his performance with the bat left much to be desired. He would look for a better display in Duleep Trophy.
Karnataka pace duo of V Kaverappa and Vijaykumar Vyshak will man the pace department while R Sai Kishore is the lead spinner.
The competition will begin on June 28 and all the matches are scheduled to be played in Bengaluru.
Squad: Hanuma Vihari (c), Mayank Agarwal (vc), Sai Sudharsan, Ricky Bhui (wk), KS Bharat (wk), R Samarth, Washington Sundar, Sachin Baby, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, Sai Kishore, V Kaverappa, V Vyshak, KV Sasikanth, Darshan Misal and Tilak Varma.
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