By the end of the third day of the final of the Duleep Trophy 2025 between South Zone and Central Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, Central Zone posted a huge score of 511 runs in their first inning with a lead of over 350 runs, as Yash Rathod missed the chance to celebrate his double century.

In reply, South Zone was at a decent spot with 129/2. Smaran Ravichandran, the number three batter, who was unbeaten on 37 runs, stretched his knock to 67 runs with the help of seven boundaries and one six at a strike rate of 56.78. But he couldn’t convert this start to a huge score, unlike the Central Zone batters.

See Also: [WATCH] 'Rohit Sharma as opener is...'- Mohammed Shami comments on India ODI captain's greatness

The same trend continued in the middle order of the side. Ricky Bhui was dismissed for 45 runs in 85 balls at a strike rate of 52.94, thanks to four boundaries and two sixes, while their captain and wicket-keeper batter, Mohammed Azharuddeen, cracked 27 runs in 40 balls. They were suddenly reduced to 222/6.

Duleep Trophy 2025 Final Round: All Scores from Day 4

Just when it felt like the game would end quickly, Ankit Sharma and Andre Siddharth shouldered the responsibility. They posted a partnership of over 100 runs while celebrating their respective half-centuries in the scorecard. Both the opponent spinners, Kumar Kartikeya and Saransh Jain, were getting help off the surface, but that wasn’t enough to break the stand.

However, the fairytale period ended as Ankit Sharma got dismissed on unlucky 99. He looked to reach the landmark by hoicking it over the mid-wicket region, but couldn’t cross the fielder. In the next over, Gurjapneet Singh got caught as suddenly the South Zone was pushed to the end.

The stumped-out dismissal of Vasuki Koushik brought the curtains down for 426 runs as Andre remained undefeated on 84 runs with seven fours. The umpires called it the end of the day with Central Zone needing 65 runs for victory on the fifth and final day of the fixture.

Duleep Trophy 2025 Final Round: All Scores from Day 4

South Zone- 426 (Ankit Sharma 99, Andre Siddarth 84*, Kumar Kartikeya 4/110, Saransh Jain 3/130) & 149/10 (Tanmay Agarwal 31, Salman Nazir 24, Saransh Jain 5/49, Kumar Kartikeya 4/53) lead Central Zone 511 (Yash Rathod 194, Rajat Patidar 101, Gurjapneet Singh 4/124) by 65 runs at Stumps on Day 4. 

The 18-year-old Andre Siddharth scored his first century in his senior career as his batting helped Tamil Nadu manage a challenging first innings total.

Andre Siddharth made his first-class debut in the ongoing home season. In his first six first-class innings, the right-handed batter scored 372 runs with the help of four half-centuries and has an average of 93.00. In his early first-class career, his scores were 38, 66*, 55*, 41, 94, and 78 runs. Now, the youngster recorded his first century in his first-class career on Thursday (January 23) when they faced Chandigarh. 

See Also: Team India’s Historic Triumph: A Grand Welcome for PD Champions at Delhi Airport

Andre Siddharth completed century with three consecutive fours

After Chandigarh chose to field first, Tamil Nadu scored 301 runs before losing all wickets at the end of the opening day of the ongoing round in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25. While the openers provided a century partnership, the middle-order batter C Andre Siddharth scored a magnificent century, whose previous highest score was 94 runs. Siddarth scored 106 off 143 balls with the help of 10 fours and three sixes. He completed the century with three successive fours. Apart from him, openers Mohamed Ali (40), Narayan Jagadeesan (63), and Baba Indrajith (49) scored crucial runs, but the lower-order faced a batting collapse as Tamil Nadu lost their last five wickets for only 14 runs. 

Andre Siddharth played in the U19 Asia Cup 2024

Last November-December, Siddarth served for India U19 in the U19 Asia Cup 2024, where India U19 finished as the runners-up. In that tournament, he scored 92 runs in four innings with an average of 23.00, and his highest score was 35 runs.

CSK bought Andre Siddharth for the IPL 2025

During the mega auction for the IPL 2025, Siddarth was bought by the five-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings for his base price of INR 30 lakh. 

Andre Siddharth is the nephew of Sridharan Sharath

Former Tamil Nadu star batter Sridharan Sharath, the present member of the senior men’s national selection committee, is the uncle of Andre Siddharth. The left-handed batter scored 8700 first-class runs (average 51.17) and 3366 List A runs (average 44.28) in 139 and 116 matches, respectively. Although Sridharan never served for the Indian national cricket team, he was a deserving candidate for the national team.