Mohammed Siraj and Devdutt Padikkal have been included in the South Zone team that will play East Zone in the Duleep Trophy final starting on Sunday, September 6 in Chennai. Which two players they will replace are still unknown. Unless the Indian team management makes a last-minute request for them not to, South Zone captain Tilak Varma, East's Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, and East's Ishan Kishan are all likely to play. The three are a part of India's lineup for the three Twenty20 Internationals against Afghanistan, which begin three days after the Duleep final was supposed to end on September 10. The inclusion of Padikkal and Siraj is part of the strategy that the team management has for keeping the Test players in rhythm. After leading South Zone to victory over North Zone in the semi-final with unbeaten scores of 116 and 51, Tilak had stated on Thursday, "I would love to play the final." "The Afghanistan game is probably on the 13th, but this match just ended. I'm prepared to compete in the final. After that, there are two days off, and if I report on the 11th, I can practice for a day before playing the match. Padikkal is coming off a Player-of-the-Series performance during the most recent Test tour of Sri Lanka, in which he scored 328 runs across three innings, including two centuries at No. 3. Since his debut in 2024, this marked the first time he had participated in consecutive Test matches. The incumbent's decision to resign created the opportunity. A toe injury kept 3 B Sai Sudharsan out of the series. Despite not competing in the Duleep final, Sudharsan is said to be getting closer to being fully fit. He probably will be in the lineup for the India A series that starts on September 22 in Puducherry and pits India against Australia. After Vidwath Kaverappa, South Zone's best bowler in the semi-final, was injured, Siraj's presence will boost the team's pace stocks. Siraj, like Padikkal, took four wickets in both of the Test matches in Sri Lanka. CV Milind, Siraj's Hyderabad teammate, has also been selected for cover.