In preparation for the upcoming Duleep Trophy final, the South Zone squad has been strengthened with the addition of two promising batters, Ravichandran Smaran of Karnataka and Andre Siddarth of Tamil Nadu.
Smaran, Siddarth joins South Zone squad for Duleep Trophy final
South Zone is scheduled to face Central Zone in the five-day title clash, which will commence on September 11 at the BCCI Centre of Excellence grounds.
Both the 22-year-old Smaran and the 19-year-old Siddarth were on the standby list during the semifinal stage. Following their promotion to the main squad, their former standby positions have been filled by Aniket Reddy from Hyderabad and Ajay Rohera from Pondicherry. Following the selection of N Jagadeesan and Devdutt Padikkal for the India A squad's two unofficial Tests against Australia, Smaran and Siddarth have been added to the main squad. The series will start from September 19.
Both Jagadeesan and Padikkal had standout performances in the recent Duleep Trophy semifinals. Jagadeesan, a wicketkeeper-batter from Tamil Nadu, scored an impressive 197 in the first innings against North Zone, contributing significantly to his team's total of 536. This performance helped South Zone secure a crucial first-innings lead after bowling out North for 361, ultimately earning them a spot in the final. Jagadeesan also added an unbeaten 52 in the second innings. Padikkal also made valuable contributions, scoring 57 and 16 not out across both innings.
In other match, Central Zone also progressed to the Duleep Trophy final on the basis of first innings lead over West Zone in the semifinal. They posted a colossal total of 600 in the first innings in reply to West Zone's 438. West Zone then posted 216/8 in the second innings on Day 4 which took the match towards draw.
South Zone squad for Duleep Trophy final:
Mohammed Azharuddeen (c&wk), Ricky Bhui (vc), Ravichandran Smaran, Kale M, Sheikh Rasheed, Tanmay Agarwal, Salman Nizar, Andre Siddarth, Tanay Thyagarajan, Gurjapneet Singh, MD Nidheesh, Vasuki Koushik, Ankit Sharma, T Vijay, Basil NP.