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Devdutt Padikkal and Mohammed Siraj have been added to the South Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy 2026 final against East Zone set to be played on Sunday, in Chennai, according to Cricinfo.
South Zone captain Tilak Varma, along with East Zone duo Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Ishan Kishan, are also expected to feature in the final, unless the Indian team management makes a late request for them to be rested. Varma, Sooryavanshi and Kishan are part of Indias squad for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, which begins just three days after the scheduled conclusion of the Duleep Trophy final on September 10. While it remains unclear which two players they will replace, Padikkal and Siraj have been added to the squad as part of the team managements plan to keep the Test players match-ready and in rhythm. After his unbeaten 116 and 51 helped South Zone beat North Zone in the semi-final, Tilak Varma expressed his desire to feature in the Duleep Trophy final, saying the gap before joining Indias Afghanistan series would allow him enough time to rest and train. "I would love to play the final. This match has just finished, but I think the Afghanistan game is on the 13th. I am ready to play the final. After that we have two days of break in between, and if I report on the 11th also I can practise for a day and from there I can go and play the match," Varma had said after the match, as quoted by Cricinfo. Notably, Padikkal gave a Player-of-the-Series performance on Indias recent Test tour of Sri Lanka, where he amassed 328 runs in three innings, including two centuries while batting at No. 3. (ANI)
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