Duleep Trophy 2025: Ishan Kishan and Akash Deep Ruled Out of East Zone’s Opener, Easwaran Takes Charge as Captain

East Zone skipper Ishan Kishan has been excluded from the first match of the Duleep Trophy because of injury. Odisha's wicketkeeper Ashirwad Swain has been added to the team in his place. He is not available for the first match along with him, now fast bowler Akashdeep Deep will not play the first match as well, he has been also asked to rest.

There has not been official word on Akash's injury. Abhimanyu Easwaran has replaced Ishan as the captain of East Zone. Akash will now be replaced by Assam's Mukhtar Hussain. Akash had toured England recently, from where he was sidelined for the fourth Test against Manchester due to a swallow. However, he returned to The Oval for the fifth Test where he also scored his first half-century of his career in the second innings as a night watchman.

East Zone will begin its campaign against Shubman Gill-led North Zone from August 28. All matches will be played at the Center of Excellence near Bengaluru. India and Assam all-rounder Riyan Parag has been made the vice-captain of East Zone. The team has two more Indian international stars, Mohammed Shami and Mukesh Kumar. All eyes will be on Shami's return as Shami has played only one first-class match in the last two years.

According to the information received, Kishan was injured while riding an e-bike. Due to this, he had to get stitches on his hand. However, Kishan's injury is not very serious. Kishan is expected to be fully fit before the two four-day matches against Australia A next month. Australia A is scheduled to tour India in September, where they will face India A. Currently, Kishan is present at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru where he is recovering from injury and his fitness is being focused on.

The East Zone team is as follows:- Abhimanyu Easwaran (captain), Ashirvad Swain (wicketkeeper), Sandeep Patnaik, Virat Singh, Danish Das, Sridam Paul, Sharandeep Singh, Kumar Kushagra (wicketkeeper), Riyan Parag (vice-captain), Utkarsh Singh, Manishi, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, Mukhtar Hussain and Mohammed Shami.