Ishan Kishan declines opportunity to play Duleep Trophy despite no injury concerns - Reports 

Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan has reportedly rejected the chance to play in the upcoming Duleep Trophy for the East Zone. The zonal domestic red-ball competition is set to be held from June 28 to July 16 in Bangalore.

Kishan was recently in the selection fray for the World Test Championship (WTC) final along with KS Bharat. The left-handed batter has been elevated to a backup keeper following long-term injuries to Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul. He received his maiden Test call-up during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier in the year but is yet to make his Test debut.

According to an East Zone selection committee member, Kishan was in consideration to be named as captain of the team for the Duleep Trophy.

The source told PTI that the Jharkhand-born cricketer let his unavailability be known to Zonal selection committee convenor Debasish Chakraborty.

"As he is a senior India regular in white ball, he would have got the captaincy. Chakraborty got in touch with Ishan over phone and came back and told us that he is not interested in playing Duleep Trophy. We were not told if he has an injury or not. Just that he doesn't want to play," the source said.

With Ishan Kishan seemingly out of the picture, Abhimanyu Easwaran has been tasked with the responsibility of leading East Zone in the Duleep Trophy.

Since Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul are not expected to be fit in time for the upcoming Test series against West Indies, Kishan might retain his place in the squad with KS Bharat as the wicketkeeping options in the squad.

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Ishan Kishan's last red-ball match came during the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy season

Kishan, much like several of his peers, has been heavily involved in white-ball cricket. He was part of Team India's white-ball squad in their home season following which he played in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Mumbai Indians (MI).

His last red-ball contest came during the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy against Services, where he scored 13 runs each across both innings.

He had joined the Jharkhand squad for a short stint after his successful tour of Bangladesh where he scored a double century in the third ODI.

Will the youngster be a regular member of the Indian red-ball squad in the future? Let us know what you think.