The new Indian domestic season is about to go underway in August. The prestigous Duleep Trophy will kick-start the season on an emphatic note, with zonal competition set to start from August 23. After Ruturaj Gaikwad was announced as West Zone captain, East Zone has also announced its squad. Ishan Kishan is set to lead East Zone, while Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been selected as the vice-captain. 

Sooryavanshi to lead Shami and co.

It is a fascinating choice by the BCCI, as Sooryavanshi is just 15 years old and will now have leadership duties to take care of as well. This is despite the East Zone team already boasting experienced campaigners in Abhimanyu Easwaran, Mohammed Shami and Shahbaz Ahmed. 

Yet, Sooryavanshi has been chosen to have the role of vice-captain. Kishan's choice as the captain is a sensible one, since he already leads Jharkhand and has had a successful Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) tournament. He is a regular fixture in India's ODI and T20I team as well. 

However, Sooryavanshi will have an opportunity to showcase his red-ball skills as well after a terrific T20I series against Zimbabwe. He tasted international success, becoming the Player of the Series with 151 runs at an average of 50 and an SR of 196.10. It’s been a quiet start in first-class cricket for Sooryavanshi. Eight matches, 12 innings, 207 runs at 17.25, and one best of 93. He last turned out in red-ball cricket during a Ranji Plate game for Bihar against Meghalaya last season.

East Zone Squad

Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sudip Gharami, Mohammed Shami, Mukesh Kumar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Suraj Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan (capt), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (vice-captain), Virat Singh, Kumar Kushagra, Shikhar Mohan, Subranshu Senapati, Abhijit Sarkar, Anukul Roy, Denish Das

The East Zone squad features players from six first-class teams from eastern India, comprising of Assam, Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha and Tripura. Two of the biggest absentees are Akash Deep and Riyan Parag, who both are in rehab after undergoing surgeries. 

Sooryavanshi is set to open the batting alongisde Easwaran, who used to captain India A but has now fallen out of order. He would like to create an imapct, and so will Kumar Kushagra, who has been given a break by the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the IPL and is a youngster wanting to make his name. 

The bowling arsenal is filled with Bengal players, with Mohammed Shami being the biggest attraction. Despite doing so well in domestic circuit, he has been constantly overlooked by the BCCI selectors for the Indian team. Mukesh Kumar, Suraj Jaiswal, Shahbaz Ahmed and Anukul Roy are other Bengal players. 

Duleep Trophy 2026 Schedule