Duleep Trophy: Three TN players in South Zone squad
The 22-year-old Tilak, who has played four ODIs and 25 T20Is, was in fine touch for Hampshire recently, smashing 100, 56, 47 and 112 in four innings for the English county side.
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BENGALURU: India batter N Tilak Varma was on Sunday named as the South Zone skipper in the season-opening Duleep Trophy to be held here next month.
The 22-year-old Tilak, who has played four ODIs and 25 T20Is, was in fine touch for Hampshire recently, smashing 100, 56, 47 and 112 in four innings for the English county side.
Kerala players were rewarded for their excellent run till the Ranji Trophy final as four players from the state found place in the 16-member squad.
They were: Mohammed Azharuddeen, who will be Tilak’s deputy, MD Nidheesh, Basil NP and Salman Nizar.
Tamil Nadu batter Narayan Jagadeesan, who has flown to England as a cover for the injured Rishabh Pant, senior left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore and middle-order batter Devdutt Padikkal too are in the squad. Lanky TN left-arm batter Andre Siddarth has been included in stand-by list.
India and Karnataka pacer Vyshak Vijaykumar will lead the South Zone bowling attack.
This year the Duleep Trophy will return to the Zonal format between six teams, deviating from the previous years’ set-up of India A, B, C and D.
The four-day tournament will be played here at the BCCI Centre of Excellence grounds from August 28.
South Zone and West Zone have got a direct entry into the semifinals.
South Zone squad: Tilak Varma (captain), Mohammed Azharuddeen (vice-captain), Tanmay Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal, Mohit Kale, Salman Nizar, Narayan Jagadeesan, T. Vijay (Andhra), R Sai Kishore, Tanay Thyagarajan, Vyshak Vijaykumar, MD Nidheesh, Ricky Bhui, Basil NP, Gurjapneet Singh, Snehal Kauthankar
Stand-by: Mohit Redkar, R Smaran, Ankit Sharma, Edhen Apple Tom, Andre Siddarth, Shaikh Rasheed
