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Ishan Kishan exudes mystery and fascination. The Indian wicketkeeper, who played in all formats including two Tests, 27 ODIs, 32 T20Is, and was an expert in white-ball cricket, especially T20 cricket, appears to have vanished from the national stage overnight when India’s World Cup campaign began in October. His request to leave the Indian team midway through the South Africa trip, claiming personal reasons, is the last time anyone heard about him. He was therefore dropped from the Test team.
The story has been enhanced by Kishan’s exclusion from the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan. For the wicketkeeper position, the national selectors have chosen Jitesh Sharma and Sanju Samson over Ishan. KL Rahul, the current first-choice wicketkeeper in both the Test and ODI teams, has also replaced him in those teams.
There has been a lot of conjecture over the potential reasons behind his exclusion since the BCCI revealed the roster on Sunday night. A possible explanation is that he might have received punishment for going to a TV show without authorization. Insiders dispute this assertion. Another idea is that, after receiving clearance to depart the team in South Africa on December 17, he has still not informed the BCCI of his availability. Considering that the BCCI or the selectors may always ask him how long his “leave” will be if they truly want him on the team, this may still be a poor excuse.
All of this creates a certain amount of curiosity, and the BCCI hasn’t tried to stop rumors by giving an explanation for his non-selection. It is said that Kishan is in India, but no one has been able to get in touch with him. Without much luck, even a few of his Jharkhand teammates have attempted to get in touch with him.
The Ranji Trophy first-round match between his state and Saurashtra ended on Monday, and the 25-year-old keeper-batsman decided not to play. Officials from the state organization have told ‘Cricket Line News’ that they will speak with Kishan and make a judgment regarding his choice by Tuesday night.
Not one of the three Twenty20 Internationals in South Africa included Kishan. But of the three T20Is he had played so far, two had been half-centuries against Australia at home in November, and the other saw him out for a duck. Unlike many other players of the World Cup team, he was not included in the ODI squad that traveled to South Africa.
According to insiders, Virat Kohli and the selectors have spoken about what they expect from him in the meantime. After more than a year, Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been called up to the T20I team. It is acknowledged that discussions over his involvement in the T20Is have taken place. Recently, Ajit Agarkar and Virat Kohli met in Cape Town.
With a lifetime T20I strike rate of 137 and average of 52, Kohli has considerably outperformed many of his peers. His strike-rate of just 110 against spin during the IPL 2023 indicates that there is still concern regarding his performance against spin in the middle overs. But if, after more than a year, the selectors still to feel that he wasn’t the best option, then perhaps there were other considerations that were brought up with Kohli.
The Afghanistan series offers the final international matches for the selectors to evaluate players for the ICC tournament, with the T20 World Cup set for June. While it’s unclear if comparable conversations have been had with top-order batsmen Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, head coach Rahul Dravid and chief selector Ajit Agarkar have reportedly made some preparations for the major competition.
The Indian players are expected to report to Mohali, the location of the opening Twenty20 International match against Afghanistan, by Wednesday morning (January 10). The game is set to take place on January 11.