Sanju Samson kicked aside as Tilak Varma named South Zone captain for Duleep Trophy 2025

Young Hyderabad batter Tilak Varma has been named the captain of the South Zone team for the upcoming Duleep Trophy 2025. This year, the tournament returns to its traditional format, with six zonal teams—South, North, East, West, Central, and Northeast—competing.

In the last season, the Duleep Trophy featured India A, B, C, and D teams that were picked by national selectors. But this season, the tournament will be held in the traditional format next month. The decision to appoint Tilak Varma as the captain was made during the South Zone selection meeting held at the Siechem Stadium in Pondicherry on Saturday, July 26.

Tilak Varma to lead South Zone in Duleep Trophy 2025

However, Tilak Varma missed the 2024–25 Ranji Trophy season due to international duties, but he is currently in sensational form. The 22-year-old has been making headlines during his debut County Championship stint with Hampshire, scoring a century on debut against Essex, followed by impressive knocks of 56, 47, and another 100 in his next few matches.

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The South Zone squad also featured the Hyderabad opener Tanmay Agarwal, who scored 934 runs in just seven matches during the last Ranji Trophy season and helped Hyderabad return to the Elite group. Karnataka’s R. Smaran, who scored 516 runs last season, has been named as a standby player.

Devdutt Padikkal and N Jagadeesan to play under Tilak Varma

Tamil Nadu’s N. Jagadeesan, who recently received his first India call-up after Rishabh Pant’s injury, is also included in the squad along with Devdutt Padikkal and R. Sai Kishore. Sanju Samson, one of Kerala’s top cricketers, is missing from the squad for the tournament.

The Indian wicketkeeper-batter has been recovering from the injury that he sustained during the IPL 2025, and that’s why the selectors have decided to move on from him for the tournament.

The Duleep Trophy 2025 kicks off on August 28 in Bengaluru, with North Zone facing East Zone and Central Zone taking on Northeast Zone in the quarterfinals. South Zone will play the winner of the first quarterfinal in the semifinal on September 4, while West Zone will meet the winner of the second quarterfinal of the tournament.

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South Zone Squad for Duleep Trophy 2025:

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).

Stand-by players: Mohit Redkar (Goa), R Smaran (Karnataka), Ankit Sharma (Pondicherry), Edhen Apple Tom (Kerala), Andre Siddarth (Tamil Nadu), and Shaikh Rasheed (Andhra).

Here's the Duleep Trophy 2025 Schedule: