Ishan Kishan, who has been dropped from BCCI’s annual contract list, was reportedly given a redemption opportunity but the 25-year-old refused it, and opted to train with his IPL captain Hardik Pandya.
The Indian cricket team management led by captain Rohit sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid had contacted him to feature in the ongoing India vs England Test series.
As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, Rohit and Dravid got in touch with Kishan during the ongoing Test series against England, but the Jharkhand wicketkeeper-batter said he was not ready yet.
The timing of the redemption opportunity isn’t clear but understandably it’s after KS Bharat’s failure with the bat in the second Test match. India were also dealing with the injury concerns of KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja during the same time, and management was looking to strengthen the batting unit.
In the absence of Kishan, Dhruv Jurel was given a debut opportunity and he grabbed it with both his hands by scoring 46 in his maiden Test innings, 90 in the first innings of the fourth Test match in Ranchi, and an unbeaten 39 in the second innings to grab Player of the Match award.
Rahul Dravid twice within a span of month mentioned that Ishan Kishan would have to play domestic cricket before making himself available for selection. However, the southpaw did not turn up to play any Ranji Trophy 2023-24 match, and instead travelled to Baroda to train with his Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya at the Kiran More Academy.
“The BCCI has recommended that all athletes give precedence to participating in domestic cricket during periods when they are not representing the national team,” read the BCCI release announcing the contracts.
Ishan Kishan, who took a break from cricket for personal reasons and pulled out of the South Africa Tests in December-January, returned to action this week in the DY Patil T20 tournament.