Duleep Trophy 2024: Injured Ishan Kishan Likely to be Replaced by Sanju Samson in First Match - Report

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Injured Ishan Kishan is set to miss the first match of the Duleep Trophy 2024, scheduled to start on September 5, with Sanju Samson likely to replace the wicketkeeper-batter in the India D squad, according to CricBuzz.

As per the report, Kishan will miss the first match of the tournament, but his availability for the remainder of the Duleep Trophy remains unclear. He was named in Team D squad led by Shreyas Iyer.

Samson, who was not named in any of the squads in the four-team competition, may be named in the Team D squad for the opening match against Team C at the Rural Development Trust Stadium, Anantapur.

Team D also has Srikar Bharat and Ricky Bhui in their squad as wicketkeeping options. So, Samson's inclusion may not guarantee him a spot as the wicketkeeper. However, the Kerala star could feature in the four-day contest as a batter.

Kishan had featured in the Buchi Babu tournament last month in Chennai, where Jharkhand played only two matches before being eliminated in the league phase. He scored a century (115) and 41 not out in the first match, while he registered scores of 1 and 5 in the second match.

Kishan hopes to make a return to the national squad via domestic tournaments such as Duleep Trophy. Now, his return to the Indian red ball set up may have to wait if he is not fit for the second match, scheduled from September 12.

Earlier, the wicketkeeper-batter was excluded from the list of centrally contracted BCCI players due to his reluctance to participate in domestic cricket when away from national duty despite BCCI making participation mandatory if the player is fit.

Apart from Kishan, India's T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav is also injured and is currently at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, nursing a hand injury. Pacer Prasidh Krishna also is set to miss the opening game of the tournament.

Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj have already been withdrawn from the competition for different reasons. Umran Malik has also been ruled out of the first match of the Duleep Trophy 2024.