Hyderabad batter Tilak Varma has been named captain of South Zone team for the upcoming Duleep Trophy 2025-2, starting in late August. Kerala's Mohammed Azharuddeen has been appointed Varma's deputy.
This season, Duleep Trophy will be played in the zonal format instead of four squads - India A, B, C and D. Tilak was appointed for the leadership position at the South Zone selectors' meeting at the Siechem Stadium in Pondicherry on July 26.
Other prominent players in the squad are top-order batter Devdutt Padikkal, left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore. Recently replaced an injured Rishabh Pant in India's Test squad for fifth Test of Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 on England soil, Narayan Jagadeesan is in the squad as well. Varma was appointed captain despite having Kishore in the side, who led Tamil Nadu in the previous Ranji season.
Varma did not play in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 for Hyderabad due to international cricket. However, he is eager to earn his maiden Test call-up. In his ongoing County stint for Hampshire, he has already scored two centuries. From five innings, he has scored 315 runs at an average of 78.75.
"I always say that Test cricket is my favourite game. I was waiting for this opportunity. Being a world no.3 batsman in T20Is, everybody thinks I am a good T20 batter. But I know, and I have been saying this for a long time, I am a good Test player. I love playing Test cricket, playing close to the body, being challenged, especially in English conditions," Tilak had said after an impressive performance on County debut.
South Zone Duleep Trophy 2025 squad:
Tilak Varma (c) (Hyderabad), Mohammed Azharuddeen (vc) (Kerala), Tanmay Agarwal (Hyderabad), Devdutt Padikkal (Karnataka), Mohit Kale (Pondicherry), Salman Nizar (Kerala), Narayan Jagadeesan (Tamil Nadu), Tripurana Vijay (Andhra), R Sai Kishore (Tamil Nadu), Tanay Thyagarajan (Hyderabad), Vijaykumar Vyshak (Karnataka), Nidheesh MD (Kerala), Ricky Bhui (Andhra), Basil NP (Kerala), Gurjapneet Singh (Tamil Nadu), Snehal Kauthankar (Goa).