India's wicket-keeper has been excluded from the Duleep Trophy competition, with a new captain being appointed to take his place.
The East Zone has announced their squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy, the first tournament of the 2025-26 Indian domestic season. The squad is led by Abhimanyu Easwaran, who has captained the team in several previous tournaments.
Notably, the squad sees the inclusion of two wicketkeepers - Kumar Kushagra and Aashirwad Swain. With Ishan Kishan being ruled out due to an injury sustained during the fifth Test against England last month, Swain has been brought in as his replacement.
Aashirwad Swain, a 20-year-old wicketkeeper from Odisha, brings a wealth of experience to the squad, having played in first-class, List A, and T20 matches. He has amassed 615 runs in first-class cricket at an average of 30.75 with three fifties.
The East Zone squad also boasts a strong batting lineup, with the likes of Sandeep Pattnaik, Virat Singh, Denish Das, Sridam Paul, Sharandeep Singh, and Riyan Parag. Utkarsh Singh completes the all-rounder contingent.
The bowling department is equally impressive, with Manishi, Suraj Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, and Mohammed Shami forming a formidable unit. Mukhtar Hussain, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Swastik Samal, Sudip Kumar Gharami, and Rahul Singh are the standby players for the East Zone squad in the Duleep Trophy.
However, the reason for Ishan Kishan's absence from the Duleep Trophy remains unclear, as no official statement has been made.
The Duleep Trophy, named after the legendary Indian cricketer Dilip Sardesai, is a domestic cricket competition in India that was first played in 1961-62. The tournament is played in a knockout format, with teams representing different zones of India. The East Zone has won the trophy a total of 13 times, the last being in 2018-19.
As the countdown to the Duleep Trophy begins, fans of the East Zone are eagerly awaiting the team's performance in the tournament. With a strong squad and the leadership of Abhimanyu Easwaran, the team looks set to make a strong start to the 2025-26 Indian domestic season.
