Duleep Trophy: Malayali player Mohammed Azharuddeen named South Zone captain

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Malayali player Mohammed Azharuddeen will lead the South Zone team in the domestic cricket tournament Duleep Trophy. Azharuddeen, a native of Kasaragod, is the first Malayali to be named captain of the Duleep Trophy. Azhar was named captain to fill the void of Tilak Verma, who left for the Asia Cup.

Apart from Azhar, Salman Nisar, Basil NP and MD Nidheesh are also in the team from Kerala. Eden Apple Tom is a reserve player. All of them performed well last season when Kerala made history in the Ranji Trophy and entered the final for the first time. Azharuddeen scored 635 runs, including a century last season.

The South Zone team, which reached the semi-finals directly in the Duleep Trophy, will play its first match against North Zone in Bengaluru from September 4.