Indian wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan will be unavailable for the East Zone for the Duleep Trophy after being ruled out of the domestic red-ball competition. The reason was unspecified as Odisha Cricket Association announced Aashirwad Swain as the replacement for the southpaw, but it seems like the wicketkeeper-batter hasn't recovered from the foot injury he sustained last month after falling off a two-wheeler.
"Odisha’s wicketkeeper-batter Aashirwad Swain has been selected for the East Zone squad in the Duleep Trophy, replacing Ishan Kishan! He joins Sandeep Pattnaik in the squad, while Swastik Samal has been named as standby," the OCA statement on X (formerly Twitter) read. Since Kishan was announced as the captain of the East Zone, his unavailability will mean Abhimanyu Easwaran, who was the deputy, to get the top job.
Last month, after his short stint with Nottinghamshire, Kishan was considered as Rishabh Pant's replacement for the final Test at the Oval against England before his injury news came to the fore. Tamil Nadu's N Jagadeesan earned his maiden Test call-up for India for the series decider.
East Zone will take on the North Zone in the first qualifier, starting August 28 at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground in Bengaluru. The South Zone and the West Zone are already in the semi-finals and will take on the winners of the East Zone vs North Zone and Central Zone vs Northeast Zone quarter-finals, respectively.
East Zone squad for Duleep Trophy: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sandeep Patnaik, Virat Singh, Denish Das, Sridam Paul, Sharandeep Singh, Kumar Kushagra, Riyan Parag, Utkarsh Singh, Manishi, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Shami, Aashirwad Swain (wk)
