Saha, Ishan opt out; Easwaran to lead East Zone

Kolkata: Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran will lead East Zone in the upcoming Duleep Trophy tournament. The former India ‘A’ skipper got the leadership role after wicketkeeper-batters Jharkhand’s Ishan Kishan and Tripura’s Wriddhiman Saha opted out of the squad. Bengal’s Abhishek Porel was named the wicketkeeper along with Kumar Kushagra of Jharkhand.Last year Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwary led the side, but the middle-order batter too has decided to skip the six-team tournament. East Zone will open their campaign against Central Zone in the quarterfinal at Alur on June 28.Easwaran will have former India spinner from Jharkhand Shahbaz Nadeem as his deputy. Bengal have eight players in the 15-member squad, including batters Sudip Gharami and Anushtup Majumder, pacers Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep and Ishan Porel along with all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed apart from the skipper and Abhishek. Twenty-one-year-old Riyan Parag of Assam and Tripura’s Mura Singh have also found berths in the side.East Zone squad: Abhimanyu Easwaran (captain), Santanu Mishra, Sudip Gharami, Riyan Parag, Anushtup Majumdar, Bipin Saurabh, Abhishek Porel (wk), Kumar Kushagra (wk), Shahbaz Nadeem (vice-captain), Shahbaz Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Anukul Roy, Mura Singh, Ishan Porel.