N Jagadeesan and Devdutt Padikkal Excluded As South Zone Turn to CSK, SRH Youngsters for Duleep Trophy 2025 Final

Major setback for South Zone ahead of the Duleep Trophy 2025 final, as they had to release Narayan Jagadeesan and Devdutt Padikkal; both of the batters have been named in the India A squad for the Australia A series.

South Zone announced the replacements of Jagadeesan and Padikkal for their summit clash with Central Zone, starting September 11. Andre Siddarth and Smaran Ravichandran enter into the squad for the final match as the replacements. The unavailability of Jagadeesan and Padikkal is considered a major blow for the team, as both of them were in excellent form. Jagadeesan was the Player of the Match in the semifinal fixture against North Zone for scoring 197 and 52* in the first and second innings, respectively. The 197-run knock proved to be one of the decisive factors of the semifinal, as South Zone was able to gain a 175-run lead in the first innings.

Padikkal emerged as the second-highest run getter for the team in the knockout match with his first-innings 57-run knock, and in the second innings he remained unbeaten for 16 while batting at the number 3 position.

Though their replacements, Andre Siddarth and Smaran Ravichandran, were in fine touch during their recent domestic matches. In the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy, Siddarth claimed 612 runs at an average of 68 in 12 innings for Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, Smaran, with 516 runs at an average of 64.50 in 10 encounters, was Karnataka’s leading run-scorer.

South Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy 2025 final:

Azharuddin (Captain & Wicketkeeper), Ricky Bhui (Vice-Captain), Smaran Ravichandran, Kale M, Shaik Rasheed, Tanmay Agarwal, Salman Nizar, Andre Siddarth, Tanay Thyagarajan, Gurjabneet Singh, Nidheesh, Kaushik V, Ankit Sharma, T Vijay, Basil NP

Stand-bys: Mohit Redkar (Goa), Snehal Kautankar (Goa), Eden Apple Tom (Kerala), Ajay Rohera (Puducherry), G. Aniketh Reddy (Hyderabad)