Hyderabad batter Tilak Varma has been named captain of the South Zone team for the 2025-26 domestic season opener, the Duleep Trophy 2025, scheduled for late August. The tournament has returned to its traditional format featuring six zonal teams, unlike last year when the competition was played between four squads India A, B, C, and D (selected by the senior men’s national selection committee).
Tilak was appointed captain during the South Zone selectors’ meeting held at Siechem Stadium in Pondicherry on Saturday, despite missing Hyderabad’s Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season due to his international commitments last year.
The 22-year-old left-handed batter has been in excellent form during his maiden County stint with Hampshire since last month. Tilak impressed on debut against Essex by scoring a century and followed it with scores of 56, 47, and 100 in his subsequent four innings. Kerala batter Mohammed Azharuddeen, who impressed with a career-best 177 in the Ranji semi-final in Ahmedabad, was named vice-captain. Four players from Kerala’s maiden Ranji Trophy final appearance last season made the squad, including batter Salman Nizar and pacers Basil NP and Nidheesh MD.
Hyderabad opener Tanmay Agarwal, who scored 934 runs in seven matches during Hyderabad’s return to the Elite group, was also selected, along with R Smaran, who topped the run charts for Karnataka with 516 runs last Ranji season and was named standby. Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper Narayan Jagadeesan, recently earning his first India call-up as a replacement for Rishabh Pant for the upcoming fifth Test against England at the Oval, has also been included. Other notable selections include internationals Devdutt Padikkal and R Sai Kishore.
The South Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy 2025 is: Tilak Varma (captain) (Hyderabad), Mohammed Azharuddeen (vice-captain) (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).
Standby players include Mohit Redkar (Goa), R Smaran (Karnataka), Ankit Sharma (Pondicherry), Edhen Apple Tom (Kerala), Andre Siddarth (Tamil Nadu), and Shaikh Rasheed (Andhra).