India wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan has been ruled out of the Duleep Trophy. A member of India's squad in their recent Test series against England replaced him as East Zone captain.
Ishan Kishan ruled out of Duleep Trophy
The India wicketkeeper was set to lead East Zone in the first tournament of the 2025-26 Indian domestic season. However, an official update from the Odisha Cricket Association on Sunday (August 17) night announced that Kishan has been replaced.
No official reason was given for the change, but Kishan has been carrying an injury which also made him unavailable for the fifth Test against England last month. His Duleep Trophy absence could be down to the same issue.
Also read: Duleep Trophy 2025 squads: Full team lists and injury updates for each zone
Abhimanyu Easwaran to lead East Zone
In Kishan's absence, the captaincy has gone to Bengal batter Abhimanyu Easwaran. Easwaran was originally named as the vice-captain of the side but will now get to lead East Zone.
The 29-year-old has a wealth of first-class experience, having played 103 matches, and was with the Indian Test side for their recent England tour as well. But he's yet to make his international debut.
Also read: India pace trio picked, 14-year-old star named standby in East Zone Duleep Trophy squad
Who has replaced Kishan?
Kishan has been replaced by Aashirwad Swain, who was initially named in the standby list.
Swain is a 20-year-old wicketkeeper from Odisha with 11 first-class, seven List A, and eight T20 matches under his belt. He has 615 runs in first-class cricket at an average of 30.75 with three fifties, but is yet to score a hundred. It's unlikely, however, that he'll get a chance in the playing XI ahead of Kumar Kushagra, the other wicketkeeper in the East Zone squad.
Updated East Zone squad for Duleep Trophy 2025
Batters
Abhimanyu Easwaran (c), Sandeep Pattnaik, Virat Singh, Denish Das, Sridam Paul, Sharandeep Singh.
Wicketkeepers
Kumar Kushagra, Aashirwad Swain
All-rounders
Riyan Parag, Utkarsh Singh.
Bowlers
Manishi, Suraj Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Shami.
Standby
Mukhtar Hussain, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Swastik Samal, Sudip Kumar Gharami, Rahul Singh.
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