As the monsoon season is getting over, India’s domestic season for the 2025-26 period is starting. And it will kick off with the Duleep Trophy 2025. Hyderabad’s Tilak Verma will lead the South Zone in the opening competition, which will begin in late August. It will return to its previous format, where the competition will be contested by six zonal teams.

Unlike the last years, the South, North, East, and West zones will be back to replace the India A, B, C, and D sides, picked by the senior men’s national selection committee. Tilak Verma has got the chance to lead the side despite missing out on the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 due to his international commitments.

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Kerala batter, Mohammed Azharuddeen, who had creamed some fabulous performances during the knockout stages of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25, has been named the vice-captain. Four members of the Kerala side, which made its maiden Ranji final appearance, have been included in the squad. The tournament is always valued for high-intense games between some of the top international and domestic players.

Star MI player Tilak Verma to lead South Zone in Duleep Trophy 2025

Tamil Nadu’s wicket-keeper batter, N Jagadeesan, earned a maiden call-up to the Indian team as a replacement for Rishabh Pant for the fifth Test of the five-match series at the Kennington Oval in South London. The southpaw, who fractured his toe, reportedly, has been advised to rest for six weeks. Another international left-handed batter, Devdutt Padikkal, has also been included along with R Sai Kishore.

Karnataka’s Ravichandran Smaran is not in the squad, which is a surprising factor given that the left-handed batter smashed 516 runs in his debut season in 10 innings at an average of 64.50 with two centuries. The other squads for the tournament are expected to be revealed in the next few weeks.

South Zone squad for the upcoming 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).