Ishan Kishan has overlooked the BCCI directive to play domestic cricket to be in contention for the IPL and skipped his state side Jharkhand’s Ranji Trophy 2024 match against Rajasthan.
Ishan, who has been out of the India squad since withdrawing from the tour of South Africa, owing to mental fatigue, remains away from all sorts of cricketing commitments despite being urged by head coach Rahul Dravid and others in the BCCI to resume playing.
Ishan was also communicated by the BCCI and Indian team management to play Jharkhand's final Ranji Trophy Elite Group match against Rajasthan, starting February 16. But, the wicket-keeper batter gave that match a miss.
Apart from him, Rajasthan pacer Deepak Chahar, who also has been out of cricket owing to his father’s illness, gave the match a miss. Jharkhand, who have only one win and 10 points from six games so far, will be playing Rajasthan in Jamshedpur in their final round.
Several reports emerged, suggesting the BCCI isn't happy with Ishan's attitude, directing him to return to domestic cricket and join Jharkhand's Ranji Trophy team.
However, his name was missing when Jharkhand announced their playing XI for the match against Rajasthan, with Kumar Kushagra taking the keeping gloves.
Meanwhile, CricketNext revealed that the youngster is in touch with coach Rahul Dravid and has already informed him about his focus on fitness and training at the moment.
Kishan has been away from action since getting a break from the South Africa tour. The dashing left-hander wasn’t considered for the T20Is vs Afghanistan and didn’t feature in discussions for the ongoing five-Test series vs England.
Reports revealed that Kishan was in Baroda training with Pandya brothers Krunal and Hardik for the upcoming IPL 2024.
The move, and continuous absence, haven’t gone down well with the top brass of the BCCI as Test discards Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma, Hanuma Vihari and Mayank Agarwal have been making appearances for their respective states.
On the sidelines of an event in Rajkot on February 14, BCCI secretary Jay Shah emphasized that the ultimatum applies to everyone and not just Ishan.
(PTI inputs)
