India’s wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan and all-rounder Riyan Parag have reported to the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru for routine pre-season fitness assessments ahead of the 2025-26 domestic season. Both cricketers are part of the East Zone squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy, with Kishan set to lead the team. They are among the various Indian players, such as Hardik Pandya, Abhishek Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, and Suryakumar Yadav, who are or have undergone the same tests at the CoE. The CoE fitness drills are being conducted prior to the Asia Cup 2025 selection and the Duleep Trophy. Significantly, India's near future calendar will be filling up with a white-ball series against Australia in October, followed by matches against South Africa in November-December and New Zealand in January, building up towards the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. For Kishan, this is also a return chance after overcoming an ankle injury in an off-field accident a month ago for which N Jagadeesan took his place in India's team for the fifth Test of the England Test series. Also Read | Watch: Kane Williamson’s Flying Catch Sends Mark Chapman Packing He recently regained form in the County Championship with Nottinghamshire, hitting two half-centuries in consecutive innings. Meanwhile, Parag recently led Rajasthan Royals in segments of IPL 2025 in the absence of Sanju Samson. Meanwhile, the East Zone unit, who will meet North Zone in the tournament opener on August 28 at the CoE, has a robust team. Apart from Kishan, the team has vice-captain Abhimanyu Easwaran, pacer Akash Deep and pacer Mukesh Kumar, and veteran pacer Mohammed Shami, back in first-class cricket after making rare appearances in the last two seasons. Parag will be a key all-round choice, and there is Virat Singh, Sandeep Patnaik, and Sharandeep Singh in the batting order. Manishi, the left-arm spinner, and Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, the all-rounder, will be doing the spin work. East Zone Full squad: 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