Ishan Kishan has been ruled out of East Zone’s Duleep Trophy 2025 opener due to injury
Kishan has been replaced by Aashirwad Swain, and Jharkhand’s Kumar Kushagra will keep wickets
Pacer Akash Deep has also been rested, with Mukhtar Hussain drafted in as his replacement
East Zone will play their Duleep Trophy 2025 opening match against North Zone without two key players – wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan and pacer Akash Deep. As per a report from ESPNcricinfo, Kishan has been ruled out of the upcoming match as he is yet to fully recover from an injury sustained during his spell with Nottinghamshire.
As per the report, Kishan suffered a minor injury that required multiple stitches. As a result, Kishan has been replaced by Odisha’s Aasirwad Swain in the East Zone squad. Jharkhand’s Kumar Kushagra is expected to fill in as wicketkeeper against North Zone, and Bengal skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran has been named as the East Zone captain.
East Zone will begin their Duleep Trophy 2025 journey with a match against North Zone on 28 August. The match will be played at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.
The decision to replace Kishan was likely made as the wicketkeeper is in contention to make the India A squad for the four-day unofficial Test match series against Australia A next month. The 27-year-old is currently undergoing a fitness assessment in CoE, Bengaluru.
Akash Deep Rested From Duleep Trophy 2025 Opener
Meanwhile, East Zone’s national team pacer Akash Deep has also been ruled out of the opener, after being advised rest due to a niggle sustained during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy tour. Assam’s Mukhtar Hussain has been drafted into the squad as his replacement.
Despite taking 13 wickets in three Test matches in the England tour, including a match-winning ten-wicket haul in Birmingham, Akash Deep’s involvement in domestic cricket has been temporarily paused. However, the reason for the pause – whether it’s due to an injury or to what extent – is yet to be revealed by the player, the ESPNcricinfo report stated.
North Zone Vs East Zone, Duleep Trophy 2025: Full Squads
East Zone Squad: Abhimanyu Easwaran (c), Aasirwad Swain (wk), Sandeep Patnaik, Virat Singh, Denish Das, Sridam Paul, Sharandeep Singh, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Riyan Parag (vc), Utkarsh Singh, Manishi, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, Mukhtar Hussain, Mohammed Shami
North Zone Squad: Shubman Gill (c), Shubham Khajuria, Ankit Kumar (vc), Ayush Badoni, Yash Dhull, Ankit Kalsi, Nishant Sindhu, Sahil Lotra, Mayank Dagar, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Auqib Nabi, Kanhaiya Wadhawan (wk)
