Bhubaneswar: Odisha top-order batter Sandeep Pattanaik has found a place in the East Zone squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy.
Sandeep has been named in the 15-member squad, which includes six international cricketers. They are – skipper Ishan Kishan from Jharkhand, Bengal pace trio Akash Deep, who is currently doing India duty in the Test series in England, the experienced Mohammed Shami and Mukesh Kumar, and Assam allrounder Riyan Parag.
The Duleep Trophy, which will kick off BCCI’s domestic season for 2025-26, will be played at the BCCI Centre of Excellence, Bengaluru, from August 28 to September 15.
East Zone apart, West Zone, North Zone, South Zone, Central Zone and North East Zone will vie for honours.
Besides Sandeep, two Odisha players — Aashirwad Swain and Swastik Samal – have been named among six reserve players.
EAST ZONE SQUAD
Ishan Kishan (Captain, Jharkhand), Abhimanyu Easwaran (Vice-Captain, Bengal), Sandeep Pattanaik (Odisha), Virat Singh (Jharkhand), Denish Das (Assam), Sridam Paul (Tripura), Sharandeep Singh (Jharkhand), Kumar Kushagra (Jharkhand), Riyan Parag (Assam), Utkarsh Singh (Jharkhand), Manishi (Jharkhand), Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal (Bengal), Mukesh Kumar (Bengal), Akash Deep (Bengal), Mohammed Shami (Bengal).
STAND-BY
Mukhtar Hussain (Assam), Aashirwad Swain (Odisha), Vaibhav Suryavanshi (Bihar), Swastik Samal (Odisha), Sudip Gharami (Bengal), Rahul Singh (Assam).