Odisha has been given only one berth in the 15-member East Zone cricket team for the Duleep Trophy, scheduled to be held at the BCCI Centre of
Excellence in Bengaluru from 23 August to 10 September 2026. According to a media release from Odisha Cricket Association (OCA), batter Subhranshu Senapati will represent Odisha in the East Zone team.

On the other hand, as many as six players from Bengal and five from Jharkhand have been selected in the East Zone team, which will take on North East Zone in the first quarterfinal from August 23 to 26. Like Odisha, one player each from Bihar, Assam and Tripura have been included in the East Zone team.

Despite Odisha being one of the top three teams of the East Zone, just one berth in the zonal team has come as a shock for cricket followers of the state. “The selection reflects the position where Odisha as a cricketing state and OCA as its governing body stand now in the East Zone, let alone the National level. Very disappointing,” lamented a former First-Class cricketer, who did not want to be named.

Of course, two more from Odisha (Sambit Baral and Swastik Samal) have been included in the stand-by list. But observers see this as mere consolation which carries no importance. Probably as a compansetation, Preetamjit Das from Odisha has been appointed as the assistant coach of the East Zone team.

India stumper-batter Ishan Kishan will lead the team with batting sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi as his deputy. The team also features three more internationals. They are: Mohammed Shami, Mukesh Kumar and Shahbaz Ahamed. 

EAST ZONE TEAM FOR DULEEP TROPHY 2026: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sudip Kumar Gharami, Shahbaz Ahamed, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Mohammed Shami, Mukesh Kumar (all Bengal); Ishan Kishan, Kumar Kushagra, Shikhar Mohan, Anukul Roy, Virat Singh (all Jharkhand); Subhranshu Senapati (Odisha), Vaibhav Suryavanshi (Bihar), Denish Das (Assam), Abhijit Sarkar (Tripura).
Stand-by: Sambit Baral, Swastik Samal (both Odisha); Ayush Loharuka (Bihar), Sridam Paul (Tripura), Sharandeep Singh (Jharkhand).
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PHOTO: File picture of Odisha batter Subhranshu Senapati.