East Zone suffered a jolt as their star batsman and skipper Sourav Ganguly was ruled out of the four-day Duleep Trophy tie against Central Zone to be played in Gwalior from Tuesday.
Ganguly, nursing a side strain, would have to skip the match as he is "not fit", Cricket Association of Bengal joint secretary Bablu Kolay said in Kolkata on Monday.
Ganguly, who sustained the injury during the N K P Salve Challenger one-day tournament in Mumbai earlier this month, has been advised rest by doctors.
The dashing southpaw, is, however, likely to be fielded in East Zone's second match against Bangladesh Selections at Nagpur from February 22.
In Ganguly's absence, vice-captain and Bengal all rounder Laxmi Ratan Shukla would lead East Zone.
But no replacement is being sent for Ganguly "as we feel that he will have to sit out only one match," Kolay said.