Tilak Varma named South Zone captain for Duleep Trophy; Ricky Bhui appointed vice-captain

India T20I vice-captain Tilak Varma will captain South Zone in the Duleep Trophy, with Ricky Bhui as his deputy. The 15-member squad includes Karun Nair, R Smaran and N Jagadeesan, while South Zone enter the tournament directly at the semifinal stage

Visakhapatnam: India’s T20I vice-captain Tilak Varma was on Sunday named captain of a 15-member South Zone squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy, scheduled to be played at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru from August 23 to September 10.

Andhra batter Ricky Bhui will serve as the vice-captain of the side, while MN Vikram Varma, an experienced Level 2 coach from Andhra, has been appointed as the side’s head coach.

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Tilak was recently a part of the India T20I team beating Zimbabwe 3-0.

The selection committee meeting was convened by Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) secretary Sana Satish Babu. Former Andhra Ranji Trophy player RV Chandramouli Prasad chaired the selection panel, which comprised representatives from all seven Southern state units like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Hyderabad, Goa, Pondicherry, and Kerala were present in the meeting.

The squad features veteran batter Karun Nair alongside promising players like Karnataka’s R Smaran, who was 2025/26 Ranji Trophy leading run-getter with 950 runs, and Hyderabad’s K Himateja.

Shaik Rasheed, who was a part of India ‘A’ team beating Sri Lanka ‘A’ 1-0, is included in the team, so as Goa batter Abhinav Tejrana. Tamil Nadu’s N Jagadeesan, who was also in India ‘A’ team on Sri Lanka tour, will handle the wicketkeeping duties.

By virtue of reaching the final in the previous edition, where they lost to eventual champions Central Zone, South Zone have received a direct entry into the semifinals. They will open their campaign on August 30 at the BCCI COE Ground 2 against the winner of Quarterfinal 2.

Left-arm spinner Tanay Thyagarajan and leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal will handle spin-bowling duties, while K Sai Teja, Tripurana Vijay, Vidvath Kaverappa and M D Nideesh complete the pace bowling department.

South Zone squad: N Tilak Varma (captain), Ricky Bhui (vice-captain), Abhinav Tejrana, Shaik Rasheed, K M Himateja, R Smaran, N Jagadeesan (wk), Karun Nair, Tanay Thyagarajan, Shreyas Gopal, K Sai Teja, T Vijay, Vidvath Kaverappa, H Aman Khan, and M D Nideesh