Duleep Trophy: Ishan Kishan 'not interested' to play while Wriddhiman Saha cites reason to snub tournament

The Duleep Trophy squads for all the zones have been declared and it came as a surprise when Wriddhiman Saha'd name didn't pop up in the East Zone squad.

Wriddhiman Saha, who currently plays his domestic cricket for Tripura, was not named among the players who will take part in the Zonal tournament. Questions were asked on why the veteran was not selected and the probable snubbing of Saha was garnering many theories including potential snub or his reluctance to play in the tournament.

Tripura selector Jayanta Dey revealed the reason why Saha didn't make the squad. He said he had contacted Saha before making the decision but the 38-year-old cricketer himself rejected the offer.

"To be fair to Wriddhiman, he said that Duleep Trophy is for India hopefuls. If I am never going to play for India, then doesn't make sense in preventing a youngster from making a case. Hence we selected Abhishek Porel, who was the third choice," Jayanta Dey told PTI.

Bengal wicketkeeper Abhishek Porel has been included in the East Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy. The selection dilemma came down only after Ishan Kishan decided to not play the Duleep Trophy. Kishan, who was selected in India's WTC Final 2023 squad, showed reluctance to play in the tournament, which came as a surprise to many.

It is revealed that the Jharkhand player was contacted by the selectors but he simply denied to play, without citing any injury reasons or personal problems. The player would have got the East Zone captaincy had he played, but was 'not interested' to play in the tournament.

"Since he was in India squad for WTC final and KS Bharat, the man who kept wickets is playing for South Zone, we asked Zonal selection committee convenor Debasish Chakraborty to tell us if we could select Kishan," an East Zone selector was quoted by PTI, who wished to remain anonymous.

"As he is a senior India regular in white ball, he would have got the captaincy. Chakraborty got in touch with Ishan over phone and came back and told us that he is not interested in playing Duleep Trophy. We were not told if he has an injury or not. Just that he doesn't want to play," the selector further added.

Bengal's Abhimanyu Easwaran will be leading East Zone in the Duleep Trophy with Jharkhand and India spinner Shahbaz Nadeem as his deputy.

(with inputs from PTI)