Varun Chakravarthy to lead Tamil Nadu in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

SMAT 2025: Varun Chakravarthy to lead Tamil Nadu in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: The Tamil Nadu cricket team has appointed spinner Varun Chakravarthy as the new captain for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, starting from November 26. Wicketkeeper-batter N Jagadeesan has been made the vice-captain. Varun will captain at any level for the first time.

India spinner Varun Chakravarthy has been named captain of Tamil Nadu for the upcoming 2025–26 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, which begins on November 26. This marks his first-ever leadership role at any level. Narayan Jagadeesan will serve as his deputy. Varun recently impressed in India’s T20I series win in Australia, picking up five wickets across three matches.

He takes over the captaincy from M Shahrukh Khan and was chosen ahead of experienced leaders like R Sai Kishore and Jagadeesan. Tamil Nadu’s squad features a strong bowling unit, including left-arm pacers T Natarajan and Gurjapneet Singh. The spin department will be led by Sai Kishore and M Siddharth, both left-arm orthodox bowlers.

Tamil Nadu haven’t had the best run in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, sitting sixth in their group with two losses and two draws from four matches. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, they’ve been placed in Elite Group D alongside Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Tripura, Jharkhand, and Saurashtra. Their campaign kicks off against Rajasthan in Ahmedabad.

Tamil Nadu squad:

Varun Chakravarthy (c), Tushar Raheja (wk), Narayan Jagadeesan (vc, wk), M Shahrukh Khan, Andre Siddarth, VP Amit Sathvik, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, R Sai Kishore, Shivam Singh, M Siddharth, Gurjapneet Singh, T Natarajan, A Esakkimuthu, R Silambarasan, R Sonu Yadav, S Rithik Easwaran (wk)