Chennai, Jun 15 (IANS): Former India wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik has questioned the zonal selection committee for omitting Tamil Nadu middle-order batter Baba Indrajith from the South Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy set to start later this month.

Taking to Twitter, Karthik came out in support of Indrajith, who has been one of the consistent performers for Tamil Nadu in recent years. However, the zonal selectors ignored him and all-rounder Vijay Shankar for the competition, which kicks off on June 28.

Karthik in his tweet wrote that he does not understand the selection committee these days,

"I DONT understand the selection committee these days. BABA INDRAJITH plays for Rest of India against MP in the first week of March 2023. There has been no first-class matches post that, but he doesn't feature for SOUTH ZONE in the Duleep Trophy. Can someone tell me why??" Karthik wrote in his tweet.

The South Zone selection committee picked a 15-man squad during their meeting on Tuesday (June 13) in Goa.

KS Bharat, who played for India in the World recently competed World Test Championship Final against Australia in London which India lost by 209 runs.

Bharat has been named as wicketkeeper along with his Andhra teammate Ricky Bhui. Bharat may not be available to play the entire tournament in case he is picked for the two-Test series against West Indies.

Former India player and all-rounder Hanuma Vihari returns to competitive cricket as captain of the South Zone team. Vihari had been sidelined since Andhra Pradesh's Ranji Trophy 2022-23 quarterfinal loss to Madhya Pradesh in Indore when he suffered a forearm fracture.