Abhimanyu Easwaran set to captain East Zone in Duleep Trophy, gearing up at BCCI CoE in Bengaluru

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Abhimanyu Easwaran will lead East Zone in the Duleep Trophy 2025, after an injury to Ishan Kishan, who was originally named captain.

Easwaran, who has been part of the domestic circuit for a long time, will be aiming to showcase his leadership and batting skills in the domestic curtain raiser. Kishan has not recovered from an injury during his Nottinghamshire stint and is left out of the squad.

Easwaran, the Bengal batter, was part of the India squad in England Test series but didn't play a single match. He has been a prolific run scorer for Bengal and India A, but the elusive Test debut is yet to arrive. The upcoming Duleep Trophy gives a huge opportunity to the player to further solidify his credentials, especially ahead of the West Indies and South Africa home Test matches.

MyKhel understands the player is currently gearing up at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru ahead of the Duleep Trophy. Although still more than a week away, the player remains focused ahead of the tournament, which can be a stepping stone towards the elusive Test cap. Although there hasn't been any official communication to the player regarding his captaincy, it is understood that the Bengal player will lead the Zonal team.

East Zone has named a strong squad which has the likes of Mukesh Kumar, Mohammed Shami and others. India pacer Akash Deep was also part of the squad but he has been left out due to a niggle. Assam's Riyan Parag has been handed the vice-captaincy role for the first match, which will be against Shubman Gill's North Zone from August 28.

East Zone Squad vs North Zone

Abhimanyu Easwaran (captain), Riyan Parag (vice-captain), Kumar Kushagra (wk), Aasirwad Swain (wk), Denish Das, Mukesh Kumar, Mukhtar Hussain, Sandeep Patnaik, Virat Singh, Sridam Paul, Sharandeep Singh, Utkarsh Singh, Manishi, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Mohammed Shami