Karnataka skipper R Vinay Kumar has been named as the captain of South Zone in the upcoming Inter-Zonal Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournament. Vijay Shankar, the Tamil Nadu captain, has been named as his deputy. Under Vinay Kumar’s leadership, Karnataka emerged as South Zone champions in the Interstate round.
The squad includes Mayank Agarwal, Tanmay Agarwal, Ricky Bhui, Dinesh Karthik and Hanuma Vihari as well. Pavan Deshpande, who batted at a strike rate of 180.28 in the tournament, has also been named in the squad.
Murugan Ashwin and Rahil Shah will perform the spin duties whereas Kerala’s Sandeep Warrier, Basil Thampi along with Aravind Shrinath and skipper Vinay Kumar will do the fast bowling duties.
The exclusion of Muhammad Siraj comes as a surprise as the leading wicket-taker from South Zone was recently named in India A squad to face Australia later this month. He also played for Rest of India in the Irani cup after an injury to Shardul Thakur.
South Zone Squad – R Vinay Kumar (Captain/Karnataka), Vijay Shankar (Vice Captain/Tamil Nadu), Tanmay Agarwal (Hyderabad), Mayank Agarwal (Karnataka), Vishnu Vinod (Kerala), Ricky Bhui (Andhra Pradesh), Dinesh Karthik (Tamil Nadu), G Hanuma Vihari (Andhra Pradesh), Pavan Deshpande (Karnataka), Rahil Shah (Tamil Nadu), M Ashwin (Tamil Nadu), D Swaroop Kumar (Andhra Pradesh), CV Milind (Hyderabad), Basil Thampi (Kerala), Sandeep Warrier (Kerala), Aravind Sreenath (Karnataka).