Duleep Trophy Final: KL Rahul to Miss South Zone vs East Zone Clash

South Zone skipper, Tilak Varma confirmed on Saturday that Indian opener in test matches, KL Rahul won’t be part of the playing XI for the upcoming Duleep Trophy final against East Zone at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai, starting on Sunday. The southpaw, who is part of the Indian squad for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, also confirmed that Mohammad Siraj and Devdutt Padikkal will be part of the squad for the high-profile final showdown that also features other Indian international players, including Ishan Kishan, Mohammed Shami and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

Earlier, PTI has reported that KL Rahul, Siraj and Paddikkal were asked by the selection committee to play in the Duleep Trophy. However, confirming KL Rahul’s absence, Tilak Varma, in the pre-match press conference, said, “KL bahi isn’t there.”

Ishan Kishan, Tilal Varma and Sooryavanshi will all join the Indian team after completing the Duleep Trophy duties. The trio will join the squad in New Delhi before the start of the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan that starts on September 13 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Earlier, it was reported that the participation of Tilak, Sooryanavshi and Ishan in the red-ball domestic competition depends on the nod of the Indian head coach, Gautam Gambhir, and it now seems like the decision makers have asked the players to represent their teams in the final clash.

Padikkal will strengthen the team

South Zone captain, Varma said that the addition of the left-handed batter from Karnataka, Padikkal will strengthen their team. He was recently named the man of the series after he hit centuries in both the test matches in Galle and Colombo.

Varma said, “His coming into the side will really strengthen our batting line-up. The kind of form we have seen from him in the last two or three games has been really great, so having him will be a big boost for us.” He further added, “It will be a boost for us with the kind of form Siraj and Padikkal are in. It will be really helpful. They can share their experience with the players since we have quite a few young players in the side.”