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India wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan has been in the headlines for a while because he decided to miss the Ranji Trophy in favour of personal practice, in the wake of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season. 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 informed by the BCCI 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. It wasn’t just him but pacer Deepak Chahar, who also has been away from cricketing action for a while, decided to overlook his Ranji Trophy commitments.
A few weeks ago, reports emerged that Ishan Kishan has been training with Hardik and Krunal Pandya at the Reliance Stadium. 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.
But, as Jharkhand announced their playing XI for the match against Rajasthan, Ishan’s name couldn’t be found.
Jharkhand – Playing XI #JHAvRAJ #RanjiTrophy #Elite pic.twitter.com/jC5HIvddGx
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) February 16, 2024
Earlier, the BCCI secretary Jay Shah said that the board isn’t going to ‘tolerate the tantrums’, asserting that young players who aren’t injured have to play red-ball cricket for their state teams.
“They have been informed on phone already and I’m going to write letters as well that if your chairman of selectors, your coach and your captain are asking for it then you will have to play red-ball cricket,” Shah had said.
“(It applies to) whoever is fit and young – we are not going to tolerate any other tantrums. This message is for all centrally contracted players. Everyone will have to play, otherwise, the chairman of the selection committee has given me his suggestions and I am going to give him a free hand to let him take his own calls freely,” he had asserted.
India batter Shreyas Iyer, who was not picked for the last three Tests against England, didn’t feature in the Mumbai XI either. It isn’t yet known if he is injured or didn’t make himself available for the Ranji Trophy team.
These three players — Kishan, Chahar and Iyer — were specifically told to play for their respective state teams in first-class cricket.
In the absence of Kishan, Kumar Kushagra continued doing wicket-keeping duties for Jharkhand.
Jharkhand, who have only one win and 10 points from six matches so far, are playing Rajasthan at home in their final round.
The manner in which Kishan has missed match after match since returning midway from the national’s team South Africa tour citing “travel fatigue”, hasn’t gone down well with the men who matter in the Indian cricket establishment.
More so after it was found that he was training in Baroda with his new Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya while his state team languished near bottom of group A table in Ranji.
There is a general consensus that a strict policy needs to be adhered to so that a group of young players don’t make “playing IPL to IPL” a habit.
With PTI inputs
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