Both are forced changes by South Zone.
South Zone have made two massive changes for the upcoming Duleep Trophy 2025 final against Central Zone, starting September 11. They had to leave out N Jagadeesan and Devdutt Padikkal for the ultimate clash.
Both Jagadeesan and Padikkal have been named in the India A squad for the Australia A series, which starts on August 16. Hence, the duo won’t be available for the Duleep Trophy final, which comes as a major blow for South Zone.
Jagadeesan was the Player of the Match in the semifinal fixture against North Zone, scoring 197 and 52* in the first and second innings, respectively. His mammoth knock in the first innings was pivotal in helping South Zone gain a 175-run lead initially, which meant they advanced to the final since the game was a draw.
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Meanwhile, Padikkal also played a fine hand of 57 in the first innings and remained unbeaten on 16 in the next while batting at No.3 to end as the second-leading run-getter for his team in the game. Both bolstered South Zone’s top-order, and their absence will leave a massive void in the batting unit, even though the team has other quality batters.
South Zone selectors have added Andre Siddarth and Smaran Ravichandran as replacement players for Jagadeesan and Padikkal for the Duleep Trophy 2025 final. Both batters were on the standby list for the semifinal and rightly got the priority in the main players’ absence.
Playing for Tamil Nadu, Siddarth scored 612 runs at an average of 68 in 12 innings, including five fifties and a century, in the Ranji Trophy 2024/25. Meanwhile, Smaran was Karnataka’s leading run-scorer, with 516 runs at an average of 64.50 in 10 outings, including two centuries.
Additionally, selectors have included Ajay Rohera from Puducherry and Aniketh Reddy from Hyderabad as standby players for the final. Ajay is a wicketkeeper-batter who scored 383 runs at an average of 47.87 in 10 innings, comprising four hundreds, in the Ranji Trophy 2024/25.
On the other hand, Reddy took 29 wickets at 26.72 runs apiece in 12 innings, including three five-wicket hauls, in the tournament. Both Siddarth and Smaran are expected to feature in the XI for South Zone in the final at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru.
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)
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