Tilak Varma [Source: x]Tilak Varma has now been entrusted with yet another leadership responsibility in Indian cricket. Mere weeks after getting named as India’s vice-captain in T20I cricket, the 23-year-old has now been appointed as the captain of the South Zone team for the upcoming Duleep Trophy 2026 season. Andhra batter Ricky Bhui, meanwhile, was named Tilak’s deputy for the upcoming two-and-a-half-week-long tournament in Bengaluru.Tilak Varma, Ricky Bhui to helm South ZoneThe squad for the South Zone cricket team got unveiled on Saturday, August 1. The team will be captained by Hyderabad star and India’s T20I vice-captain Tilak Varma. Andhra batter Ricky Bhui will be serving as Tilak’s deputy in the prestigious first-class cricket tournament. Also Read- Tilak Varma's Strike Rate Debate: Are Numbers Strong Enough To Counter The Narrative?India’s forgotten Test star Karun Nair was also named in the squad, alongside several domestic star performers like R Smaran, SK Rasheed, N Jagadeesan among others. Here is a look at the complete South Zone squad for the 2026 Duleep Trophy season.South Zone squad for Duleep Trophy 2026: Tilak Varma (c), Ricky Bhui (vc), Abhinav Tejrana, Shaik Rasheed, K Himateja, Ravichandran Smaran, Narayan Jagadeesan (vc), Karun Nair, Tanay Thyagarajan, Shreyas Gopal, K Sai Teja, Tripurana Vijay, Kaverappa and Aman Khan.Tilak Varma’s record in Duleep TrophyInterestingly, Tilak Varma was also named as captain of the South Zone team for the Duleep Trophy 2025 season last year. However, the cricketer was later ruled out of the tournament, prompting the team management to name Mohammed Azharuddeen as new skipper. Earlier, Varma played two matches each for the South Zone and India A teams in the 2023 and 2024 editions of the tournament respectively. He aggregated 259 runs in eight innings of the premier first-class competition, doing so at an average of 37.Overall, in first-class cricket, Tilak averages a staggering 50.38, having aggregated 1,562 runs in 35 innings spanning 23 matches. What are the changes made in South Zone squad?Mohammed Azharuddeen, who led the South Zone team last year, has been dropped from the squad this time around for the Duleep Trophy 2026 season. IPL stars like Devdutt Padikkal and Gurjapneet Singh as well as domestic performers like Andre Siddarth, Tanmay Agarwal, Mohit Kale, V Koushik, Salman Nizar, Ankit Sharma, M. D. Nidheesh and Nedumankuzhy Basil were also dropped from the squad.Players like Abhinav Tejrana, K Himateja, Karun Nair, Shreyas Gopal, K Sai Teja, Kaverappa and Aman Khan, on the other hand, were included in the team for the tournament. How did South Zone fare in previous Duleep Trophy?Under the leadership of Mohammed Azharuddeen, the South Zone team reached the final of the 2025 Duleep Trophy season. The team secured a dominating draw over North Zone in the semifinal at Bengaluru, before losing to a Rajat Patidar-led Central Zone side in a lop-sided final. The South Zone team won its previous Duleep Trophy title back in 2023, under the leadership of Hanuma Vihari. The 2026 Duleep Trophy season is scheduled to be played between August 23 and September 10 in Bengaluru. Also Read- Rajat Patidar Named Central Zone Captain: Decoding RCB Skipper's Performance In Red-Ball Cricket
