Duleep Trophy: Azharuddeen to captain South Zone in semi-final against North Zone<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Bengaluru, Aug 31 (IANS) Kerala batter Mohammed Azharuddeen has been named as captain of South Zone team for their Duleep Trophy semifinal against North Zone, starting on September 4 at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) Grounds.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Azharuddeen replaces left-handed batter Tilak Varma, who was originally appointed as South Zone\u2019s skipper, but has now been withdrawn from the tournament after being included in India\u2019s squad for the upcoming Men\u2019s T20 Asia Cup, to be held in the UAE from September 9-28.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Tamil Nadu\u2019s wicketkeeper-batter N. Jagadeesan, who was called up to India\u2019s Test squad for the fifth game against England at The Oval as Rishabh Pant\u2019s replacement, will serve as South Zone\u2019s vice-captain.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
South Zone will also be without left-arm spinner R. Sai Kishore, who continues to recover from a hand injury that had earlier ruled him out of the ongoing Buchi Babu Invitational Tournament in Chennai.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In his absence, Puducherry\u2019s left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma and Andhra\u2019s top-order batter Shaik Rasheed have been drafted into the squad. Both were previously named in the standby players\u2019 list.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Ankit has claimed 168 wickets in 68 first-class matches, while Rasheed has scored 1,204 runs from 19 Ranji Trophy games and amassed 71 runs in five games for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2025.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
While South Zone will take on Ankit Kumar-led North Zone in the second semifinal, Central Zone are set to meet West Zone, captained by Shardul Thakur, in the other last four clash of the Duleep Trophy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Ankit has claimed 168 wickets in 68 first-class matches, while Rasheed has scored 1,204 runs from 19 Ranji Trophy games and amassed 71 runs in five games for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2025.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Standbys: Mohit Redkar, R. Smaran, Edhen Apple Tom, and Andre Siddarth.<\/p>\r\n\r\n