Media365
South Zone have finalised their squad for the Duleep Trophy final against Central Zone, starting September 11 at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. Mohammed Azharuddeen will lead the side, with Ricky Bhui as his deputy. The squad has seen two key changes after N Jagadeesan and Devdutt Padikkal were picked for the India A team against Australia A. In their place, Tamil Nadu’s Andrew Siddarth and Karnataka’s Smaran Ravichandran have been added, while Ajay Rohera of Pondicherry and Aniket Reddy of Hyderabad have been named as stand-by options.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! The full South Zone squad for the final: Mohammed Azharuddeen (captain and wicketkeeper), Ricky Bhui (vice-captain), Smaran Ravichandran, Mohit Kale, Sheikh Rasheed, Tanmay Agarwal, Salman Nizar, Andrew Siddarth, Tanay Thyagarajan, Gurjapneet Singh, M Nidheesh, V Kaushik, Ankit Sharma, T Vijay and Basil NP. The stand-by players are Mohit Redkar and Snehal Kautankar from Goa, Eden Apple Tom from Kerala, Ajay Rohera from Pondicherry and G Anikeeth Reddy from Hyderabad. The squad changes come after an impressive run by South Zone in the group stage, where their bowlers dominated in overcast conditions against North Zone. V Kaushik, M Nidheesh and Gurjapneet Singh were particularly effective, while Jagadeesan’s century in the first innings had given the team a decisive edge. With him now on national duty, the batting responsibility will fall on Azharuddeen, Bhui and the experienced middle order. South Zone will be eager to carry their momentum into the title clash, while Central Zone, who advanced on the back of a strong first-innings performance against West Zone, will look to pose a stiff challenge.
