Akash Deep, skipper Ishan Kishan to miss Duleep Trophy; Easwaran to lead East Zone

Kolkata, Aug 18 (PTI) India pacer Akash Deep and wicketkeeper batter Ishan Kishan, the East Zone captain, will miss the Duleep Trophy quarterfinal match against North Zone as both the players are recovering from their respective injuries.

The season-opening Duleep Trophy matches are scheduled to be held in the BCCI Centre of Excellence grounds in Bengaluru from August 28, but Akash is yet to recuperate fully from a back injury that forced him to miss two Tests on the recent tour to England.

The 28-year-old has been replaced by Bihar's Mukhtar Hussain in the East Zone squad.

Bengal pacer Akash, who had an impressive series against England taking 13 wickets, including a 10-wicket match-haul at Birmingham and a maiden Test half-century in the fifth Test at the Oval, has informed the zonal selection committee of his unavailability as per medical advice.

He is currently going through rehabilitation at the CoE, and is likely to return to action during the home Test series against the West Indies, beginning from October 2.

Meanwhile, Kishan is recovering from a hand injury.

"Ishan has a few stitches on his hand after falling off an e-bike and he is currently recovering at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru," a source close to Kishan told PTI.

"It's not serious, but as a precaution he has been advised to rest. He is expected to be fit for the India A squad for the two four-day fixtures at home against Australia next month." In his absence, Bengal top-order batter Abhimanyu Easwaran, who was part of India's five-Test tour to England, has been named the East Zone captain, while Assam all-rounder Riyan Parag will be his deputy.

Kishan has been replaced in the squad by Odisha's Aashirwad Swain, even as Jharkhand's Kumar Kushagra is likely to be the first-choice wicketkeeper.

Kishan was in contention as a replacement for the injured Rishabh Pant ahead of the fifth and final Test against England at The Oval.

But multiple stitches following his e-bike accident had ruled him out as Tamil Nadu's N Jagadeesan was eventually drafted in as Pant's back-up.

The Duleep Trophy will also see the return of veteran India pacer Mohammed Shami, who has featured in only one first-class match over the past two years, alongside pacer Mukesh Kumar.

Revised East Zone squad ================== Abhimanyu Easwaran (c), Riyan Parag (vc), Sandeep Patnaik, Virat Singh, Denish Das, Sridam Paul, Sharandeep Singh, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Aasirwad Swain (wk), Utkarsh Singh, Manishi, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, Mukhtar Hussain and Mohammed Shami. PTI TAP UNG