BCCI explains Ishan Kishan's absence, confirms injuries to Surya and Prasidh, and unveils updated Duleep squads

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Wednesday that Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav and Prasidh Krishna have been ruled out from participating in the opening round of the 2024 Duleep Trophy. The prestigious tournament is set to kick off on Thursday in Bengaluru and Anantapur, signaling the start of the red-ball season in domestic cricket.

Ishan made an impressive performance on his return to red-ball cricket for the first time since his Test debut for India in the West Indies tour in mid-2023, as he scored a century for Jharkhand Cricket Association, while captaining the side earlier last month.

However, during the pre-season invitational tournament, the wicketkeeper-batter, raring to make a comeback to the Indian Test set-up since withdrawing from the South Africa Test series in December 2023, citing mental-health break, before being denied a central contract in February after missing the Ranji Trophy, picked up an injury, as revealed by BCCI in their statement on Wednesday.

"Wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan has been ruled out of the first round of the Duleep Trophy due to a groin injury sustained during the ongoing All-India Buchi Babu Tournament. The BCCI Medical Team is closely monitoring his condition and working towards ensuring a swift recovery," read the media release from the Indian board.

Sanju Samson, who was not named among first 61 players for the opening round of the Duleep Trophy, has been announced as Ishan's replacement in the Indi D squad.

Suryakumar, who hade made his intention clear of adding to his Test appearance since making his debut in the format in the home series against Australia in February 2023, will be unavailable for the first round of the Duleep Trophy after incurring a sprain to his right thumb while fielding in the Buchi Babu Tournament last month. The India T20I skipper featured in only one match, for Mumbai Cricket Association against TNCA XI in Coimbatore.

The BCCI Medical Team is currently assessing his injury, and a further evaluation next week will determine his availability for the second round.

Fast bowler Prasidh Krishna has yet to complete rehab following surgery for his left quadriceps tendon and will miss the Duleep Trophy's first-round game.

Meanwhile, all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has been cleared to play and will be available for selection.

India A: Shubman Gill (C), Mayank Agarwal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel (WK), KL Rahul, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Tanush Kotian, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan, Vidwath Kaverappa, Kumar Kushagra, Shaswat Rawat.

India B: Abhimanyu Easwaran (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Musheer Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Yash Dayal, Mukesh Kumar, Rahul Chahar, R Sai Kishore, Mohit Awasthi, N Jagadeesan (WK)

India C: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Abishek Porel (WK), B Indrajith, Hrithik Shokeen, Manav Suthar, Gaurav Yadav, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Anshul Khamboj, Himanshu Chauhan, Mayank Markande, Aryan Juyal (WK), Sandeep Warrier

India D: Shreyas lyer (C), Atharva Taide, Yash Dubey, Devdutt Padikkal, Ricky Bhui, Saransh Jain, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Aditya Thakare, Harshit Rana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Sengupta, KS Bharat (WK), Saurabh Kumar, Sanju Samson (WK)