Having dropped down the pecking order in the list of wicketkeeper-batters, and having lost the BCCI’s central contract, Ishan Kishan seems to be on a comeback path now.
The southpaw will lead Jharkhand in the Buchi Babu tournament, starting on August 15 in Tamil Nadu. The tournament is a pre-season long format competition, and Ishan Kishan will hope that it opens further doors as far as red-ball cricket is concerned.
Though not initially part of the Jharkhand squad for the Buchi Babu meet, Ishan Kishan was drafted into the side once he informed the Jharkhand State Cricket Association of his availability.
Ishan Kishan’s red-ball cricket woes
Kishan is now expected to play the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season. He last played domestic first-class cricket in 2022. Having made his debut in the series against the West Indies last year, Kishan was expected to cement his place in the squad in the absence of Rishabh Pant, who was recovering from the injuries sustained in a horrific car crash. But, he chose to skip the 2023-24 South Africa series, citing “mental fatigue”. Kishan also made himself unavailable for the Test series against England earlier this year.
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He gave the 2023-24 domestic season a miss, despite a BCCI directive asking him and Shreyas Iyer to play the Ranji. Also, the fact that he trained privately with Hardik Pandya with an eye on the IPL, instead of honing his skills with his state team, did not go down well with the BCCI. Consequently, he and Iyer were dropped from the board’s central contracts list.
Kishan has played two Tests, 27 ODIs and 32 T20Is for India. His loss has proved to be the gain for other talented wicketkeeper-batters like K.S. Bharat and Dhruv Jurel. Now, with Pant back, and K.L. Rahul, too, in the equation, it will be a tough task for Kishan to put himself back in reckoning.
