Ishan Kishan back into national side via domestic grind but also change in priorities

Mumbai, Dec 20 (PTI) It wasn’t long ago when Ishan Kishan lost his place in the Indian team wanting to take a break or mental wellbeing and, subsequently, his central contract with the BCCI.

Towards the end of 2023, Kishan, a member of the Indian team in the ODI World Cup, took a break from the team’s tour of South Africa citing mental fatigue. But since he also did not feature in the Ranji Trophy 2023-24, Kishan was removed from the BCCI’s central contract list along with Shreyas Iyer as the debated grew intense if some top Indian players were prioritising IPL over domestic cricket.

It was also a move seen as the board setting example for other players to start prioritising domestic cricket, but for the duo, it did seem harsh.

While the pair was brought back into the fold in 2024-25 later on, it still required Kishan to go through the hard grind of domestic cricket as Iyer was already doing his part.

On Saturday, life came full circle for Kishan who not only went through the domestic cricket grind but also played red-ball cricket in the County Championship, scored IPL hundred on debut for Sunrisers Hyderabad and in his latest achievement, guided his state to their maiden title win in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy.

That Kishan has done his part in domestic cricket to find himself back into national side for the all-important men’s T20 World Cup early next year is indisputable, but his comeback has also coincided with change in priority for the Indian think tank and the selectors.

Not long ago, Shubman Gill was brought back into the T20I reinstated as the vice-captain and it was a move perceived as one where skipper Suryakumar being put on notice.

But the fast-changing world of T20 cricket saw the Indian team not even sticking its decision to have Gill paired up with Abhishek Sharma at the top, but to revert to having a wicketkeeper-batter among one of the two openers.

With 517 runs including a century in the final for Jharkhand against Haryana, Kishan made a strong case just at the right time and found himself picked as the second wicketkeeper-batter’s slot.

“He bats at the top in white-ball cricket. He’s been in good form. He's played before for India. He has a double hundred in one-day cricket,” said chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar to the media during the press conference to announce the Indian squad for the men’s T20 World Cup.

“He wasn't in the Indian team because there's a Rishabh Pant and a Dhruv Jurel ahead. They're two pretty good players,” Agarkar added.

On Saturday, both captain Suryakumar Yadav and Agarkar made it vehemently clear that the team has parted ways from their previous approach and having one of the two aggressive wicketkeeper-batters in Samson and Kishan, is the way ahead.

India will stick to the players picked in the initial stages of the five-match series against New Zealand — their last assignment before the men’s T20 World Cup — and continue with them.

Kishan will be second when it comes to picking the wicketkeeper-batter, but if a chance does come calling, he would look to grab it with both hands. PTI DDV KHS