Duleep Trophy first round: Kishan likely to be sidelined, Prasidh not ready yet

Ishan Kishan‘s return to the first-class fold is set to be delayed; he’s an unlikely starter for the Duleep Trophy opener.

Kishan, who was named in the Shreyas Iyer-led India D, is believed to have complained of a hamstring niggle following his two outings for Jharkhand, his first set of multi-day games in over a year, at the pre-season Buchi Babu Invitational in Tamil Nadu earlier this month.

No cover has been named as yet and KS Bharat is the only other wicketkeeper in the India D squad. They will open their tournament against the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led India C, on September 5, in Anantapur.

Kishan had not joined the squad yet on match-eve. A decision on whether to replace him is likely to be taken depending on the severity of Kishan’s injury.

Meanwhile, India A will be without fast bowler Prasidh Krishna, who continues to recover from a quadriceps injury. Prsaidh has begun bowling at full tilt following a four-month rehab, but the National Cricket Academy trainers want to tread cautiously, given he has now been hampered with injury concerns for the better part of two seasons.

Prasidh last played for India on the tour of South Africa in December-January, and he is believed to be nearing full match fitness. It’s likely he could yet play a part during the later rounds of the Duleep Trophy in the lead-up to the Ranji Trophy.

Kishan and Prasidh’s absence adds to a growing list of top India players who have been ruled out of the tournament for different reasons. Earlier this week, Suryakumar Yadav’s comeback to red-ball cricket had to be put on hold after he bruised his hand, also during the Buchi Babu tournament, playing for Mumbai in Coimbatore.
Prior to that, the fast-bowling pair of Mohammed Siraj and Umran Malik had been pulled out because of dengue fever, while Ravindra Jadeja was withdrawn from the India B squad. Navdeep Saini was named Siraj’s replacement in India B, and Gourav Yadav, the Puducherry fast bowler, was called in to replace Umran for India C.

The first round of the Duleep Trophy will be played in Anantapur and Bengaluru from September 5. It’s the only game where some of the top India Test players – including Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav – will feature before they disperse to get ready for India’s Test season that begins against Bangladesh in Chennai from September 19.

The Indian team is likely to assemble in Chennai on September 12 for a short preparatory camp in the lead-up to the series.

Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Source: ESPN Crickinfo

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