Mohammed Shami's comeback confirmed as East Zone squad for Duleep Trophy announced; Ishan Kishan to lead

The 34-year-old India National Cricket Team star pacer Mohammed Shami's comeback to competitive cricket has officially been confirmed.

Mohammed Shami will be featuring in the Duleep Trophy 2025 as he has been included in the East Zone squad, which will be led by Ishan Kishan.

Also Read: Watch: Mohammed Siraj bamboozles Harry Brook to become leading wicket-taker in Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy

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Mohammed Shami to be seen in action for East Zone

Duleep Trophy 2025 is set to start on August 28, and the final of the competition will be held on September 11. Mohammed Shami will be seen in action from the very first game as the East Zone will lock horns with the North Zone.

Shami will be playing under the leadership of the star wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan in the 15-member squad. He was last seen in action in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, while his last first-class game came for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy in November 2024.

Mohammed Shami was bought by the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for INR 10 crore at the IPL 2025 mega auction. However, he failed to justify his price tag and had a horrible campaign.

He played 9 games for the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and bagged just 6 wickets at an average of 56.16, an economy of 11.23, and a strike rate of 30.0.

Shami recently missed out on selection for the India tour of England 2025 as the BCCI felt he was not fit enough to handle the workload of Test cricket.

He might be in contention for the Asia Cup 2025 and would be looking to prove his fitness in the Duleep Trophy to get back on the selectors' radar for the continental tournament.

Abhimanyu Easwaran named vice-captain, Vaibhav Suryavanshi in standbys

Duleep Trophy 2025 will be played in the zonal format with zonal selectors picking the squads. The East Zone squad was picked by Bengal's Alokendu Lahiri, Odisha's Abakash Khatua, Bihar's Sunil Kumar Singh, Jharkhand's Manish Wardhan, Assam's Sumit Ranjah Das, and Tripura's Upananda Debbarma, with Jharkhand State Cricket Association secretary Saurabh Tiwary convening the meeting.

Abhimanyu Easwaran has been appointed as the vice-captain of the East Zone squad picked by the selectors. The veteran batter is currently part of India's Test team for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025.

Meanwhile, Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar, and Riyan Parag are also part of the East Zone squad, but Sudip Chatterjee has been ignored.

The teenage sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi has been kept on the standbys along with Sudip Kumar Gharami, Mukhtar Hussain, Aasirwad Swain, Swastik Samal, and Rahul Singh.

East Zone Squad For Duleep Trophy:

Ishan Kishan (capt), 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