Ishan Kishan has been ruled out of the opening round of the Duleep Trophy as he hasn’t fully recovered from an injury he suffered in the United Kingdom during his County Championship stint with Nottinghamshire.
In his place, Abhimanyu Easwaran will lead East Zone, which faces the Shubman Gill-led North Zone from August 28.
In another blow to the East Zone team, Akash Deep has reportedly been advised rest and will give the tournament a miss. Akash featured in the four of the five Tests between England and India recently. He had missed the fourth Test at Old Trafford in Manchester due to a niggle but returned for the series finale in London.
Akash has been replaced in the squad by Assam’s Mukhtar Hussain, while Odisha’s Aashirwad Swain will take Kishan’s place in the team for the tournament opener.
Riyan Parag has been appointed vice-captain after Easwaran’s promotion to the captaincy.
