India’s Test vice-captain KL Rahul, No. 3 batter Devdutt Padikkal and star fast bowler Mohammed Siraj will play in the Duleep Trophy 2026 final, which is set to take place at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai from September 6 to 10. According to a report by news agency PTI, the star trio, who played both Tests for India in the recently concluded series against Sri Lanka, have been asked to play in the Duleep Trophy final as they have no international matches scheduled in September.
Rahul and Padikkal represent Karnataka in domestic cricket, while Siraj plays for Hyderabad. All three will take the field for South Zone in the summit clash against East Zone.
India’s T20I vice-captain Tilak Varma is the captain of South Zone, and under his leadership,
South Zone defeated North Zone by seven wickets on Wednesday (September 2) to win the second semifinal at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.
Meanwhile, Ishan Kishan-led East Zone secured a four-wicket win over defending champions Central Zone in the first semifinal.
Fifteen-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, former India A captain Abhimanyu Easwaran, Mohammed Shami, Mukesh Kumar and Bengal all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed are part of the East Zone squad alongside Ishan Kishan, who is the world No. 1 T20I batter.
In the second semifinal, Ricky Bhui and Narayan Jagadeesan opened the innings for South Zone, with Shaik Rasheed batting at No. 3. However, in the summit clash, Rahul is certain to open the innings, while Padikkal is expected to bat at No. 3.
Padikkal scored two centuries for India while batting at No. 3 in the Sri Lanka series, and he will be eager to produce another big performance in the Duleep Trophy final to further strengthen his case for a place in India’s Test squad for the upcoming away series against New Zealand.
Siraj, meanwhile, will lead the fast-bowling attack. He is likely to replace Tanay Thyagarajan, who dismissed two North Zone batters in the first innings of the semifinal but went wicketless in the second innings.
Padikkal and KL Rahul last played a domestic match in February 2026, when they represented Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy final against Jammu and Kashmir. However, despite their presence, Karnataka failed to get the better of J&K.
