Duleep Trophy 2026: Tilak Varma Named Captain of South Zone; Ricky Bhui To Serve As Vice-Captain

Duleep Trophy South Zone: Mumbai Indians player and India’s vice-captain Tilak Varma was named the captain of the South Zone squad in the upcoming Duleep Trophy, which is scheduled to take place from August 23 to September 10 at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru.

Meanwhile, Andhra batter Ricky Bhui will serve as the vice-captain for the side. MN Vikram, the experienced Level 2 coach from Andhra Pradesh, has been appointed as the head coach of the side. Tilak was recently a part of the India T20I team beating Zimbabwe 3-0.

The South Zone selection committee meeting was convened by Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) secretary Sana Satish Babu, with former Andhra Ranji Trophy player RV Chandramouli Prasad chairing the panel. Representatives from all seven Southern state units, including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Hyderabad, Goa, Puducherry and Kerala, were present at the meeting.

The squad boasts a mix of experience and emerging talent, with veteran batter Karun Nair featuring alongside promising youngsters such as Karnataka’s R Smaran. The 2025/26 Ranji Trophy’s leading run-scorer, Smaran amassed 950 runs during the season. Hyderabad batter K Himateja is also part of the squad.

Shaik Rasheed, who was part of the India A side that defeated Sri Lanka A 1-0, has earned a place in the South Zone team, as has Goa batter Abhinav Tejrana. Tamil Nadu’s N Jagadeesan, who also featured for India A during the Sri Lanka tour, will take up wicketkeeping duties.

South Zone secured a direct berth in the semifinals after finishing runners-up in the previous edition, where they went down to eventual champions Central Zone in the final. They will begin their campaign on August 30 at BCCI COE Ground 2, taking on the winner of Quarterfinal 2.

The spin department will be led by left-arm spinner Tanay Thyagarajan and leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal. K Sai Teja, Tripurana Vijay, Vidvath Kaverappa, H Aman Khan and M D Nideesh make up the pace-bowling contingent.

Duleep Trophy 2026: South Zone Squad

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