Boy wonder Vaibhav Sooryavanshi named East Zone vice-captain

Teenage prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been appointed vice-captain in the Ishan Kishan-led East Zone squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy starting next month.

While the squad was predictably dominated by players from Bengal and Jharkhand, the 15-year-old Sooryavanshi's elevation as the vice-captain on his debut red-ball zonal tournament is an indication that he is being groomed as an all-format player.

Sooryavanshi is the only player from Bihar in the squad.

Veteran pacer Mohammed Shami, internationals Mukesh Kumar, Shahbaz Ahmed, former India A skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran are all part of the zonal squad.

The meeting was held at the Eden Gardens and the zonal selectors also met CAB president Sourav Ganguly.

Apart from skipper Kishan, Jharkhand has India A players Kumar Kushagra and Anukul Roy.

Bihar Cricket Association president Harsh Vardhan said: "At such a young age, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi becoming the vice-captain of the East Zone team is a matter of immense pride for Bihar cricket.

"Through his outstanding performances and mature approach to the game, he has earned the trust of the selectors."

The tournament is slated from August 23 to September 6 at BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.

East Zone Squad: Ishan Kishan (captain), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (vc), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sudip Kumar Gharami, Shahbaz Ahmed, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Mohammed Shami, Mukesh Kumar, Kumar Kushagra, Shikjar Mohan, Anukul Roy, Virat Singh, Subhransu Senapati, Denish Das, Abhijit Sarkar.