Veteran pacer Mohammed Shami has been included in East Zone’s 15-member squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy, marking his return to first-class cricket after a lengthy break. The 2025-26 edition of the domestic red-ball tournament will open with a clash between East and North Zone on August 28 at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.

India wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan, currently playing County cricket for Nottinghamshire, has been named captain of the side. Kishan has impressed in England’s ongoing County Championship Division One, registering two half-centuries in as many innings. Opening batter Abhimanyu Easwaran, part of India’s current Test squad touring England, has been appointed vice-captain.

Among the other notable names in the squad are Bengal pacers Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar, alongside Assam allrounder Riyan Parag.

A surprise inclusion among the standbys is 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who shot into the spotlight last month after smashing the fastest century in youth ODI history during India Under-19’s tour of England. He is one of six players listed as reserves.

Shami, now 34, last played red-ball cricket in November 2024 during Bengal’s Ranji Trophy campaign—his only first-class appearance since representing India in the World Test Championship final back in June 2023. He most recently featured in the IPL 2025 season, where he picked up six wickets in nine games for Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Notably, Bengal’s top scorer from the previous Ranji Trophy season, Sudip Chatterjee, has been left out of the main squad. His teammate Sudip Kumar Gharami, the team’s second-highest run-getter, finds himself among the standbys instead.

Jharkhand duo Virat Singh and Sharandeep Singh, who led the run charts for their state last season, have been included, as has left-arm spinner Manishi, who bagged 22 wickets in seven games during the last Ranji campaign.

The Duleep Trophy returns to its traditional zonal format this season after a year under the national selectors’ India A, B, C, and D structure. Zonal selectors have taken over team selection duties once again. The tournament will serve as the curtain-raiser for India’s domestic cricket calendar in 2025-26.

East Zone squad

Ishan Kishan (C), Abhimanyu Easwaran (VC), Sandeep Patnaik, Virat Singh, Denish Das, Sridam Paul, Sharandeep Singh, Kumar Kushagra, Riyan Parag, Utkarsh Singh, Manishi, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Shami.

Standbys: Mukhtar Hussain, Aasirwad Swain, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Swastik Samal, Sudip Kumar Gharami, Rahul Singh.