India head coach Gautam Gambhir and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar were urged to give another opportunity to Ishan Kishan as fans grew restless after seeing the wicketkeeper-batter out of action. ‘Bring back Ishan Kishan’; trended on X on Thursday morning, hours before the start of the second round of Duleep Trophy.
Kishan, who made a terrific comeback to red-ball cricket by hitting a century for the Jharkhand Cricket Association in the Buchi Babu Invitational tournament, was supposed to turn up for India D team in the Duleep Trophy. A solid performance in the Duleep Trophy would have a strong case for the left-hander to get his spot back in the Indian side, but an unfortunate groin injury during the Buchi Babu tournament forced Kishan to withdraw from the first round of the Duleep Trophy.
"Wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan has been ruled out of the first round of the Duleep Trophy due to a groin injury sustained during the ongoing All-India Buchi Babu Tournament. The BCCI Medical Team is closely monitoring his condition and working towards ensuring a swift recovery," read the media release from the Indian board.
Sanju Samson replaced Kishan in the India D squad. Since the BCCI statement only ruled Kishan out from the first round of the Duleep Trophy, hopes of seeing the dynamic batter in action from the second round, were high.
However, they were dashed as Kishan's name did not feature in any of the teams when BCCI announced revised list of players after those who were picked for the India vs Bangladesh first Test, were released.
Interestingly, the latest BCCI media statement did not mention anything about Kishan. Naturally, the questions became louder. Where is Ishan Kishan? How is his recovery going?
The drama did not end there. As the chorus was getting louder to 'bring Ishan Kishan back', BCCI pulled off a huge surprise. Kishan was listed in the playing XI of India C for their match against India B in Anantapur on Thursday. Kishan replaced Aryan Juyal in the India C XI.
As astonishing as it may sound but Kishan was not part of the India C squad, originally. He was named in the India D squad. And in the latest press release sent by BCCI on Tuesday, it was mentioned that India C was the only team among the four with no changes to their squad. But despite this, with no prior announcement, Kishan's name featured in the India C XI for the second round match.
Kishan was a regular in the Indian squad in all three formats till the South Africa tour last year. The wicketkeeper-batter's decision to return to India from the middle of that tour changed everything. He made himself unavailable from domestic cricket, citing mental health issues, which did not go down well with the Agarkar-led selection committee. Kishan was not only dropped from all the squads but also axed from the central contracts.
