India great Sunil Gavaskar has opened up on Ishan Kishan’s absence from the Indian team, saying that wicketkeeper-batter will be back in the Test side very soon. After the Indian team’s head coach, Rahul Dravid made it clear that Kishan would have to play domestic cricket to make himself available for selection for the Indian team, it was revealed that Kishan didn’t reach out to the Jharkhand State Cricket Association regarding his participation in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season.
Hence, the player wasn’t included in India’s Test squad for the first 2 Test matches against England, with KS Bharat, KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel being the three wicket-keepers in the 16-man squad.
Gavaskar in his column in Sportstar, expressed uncertainty over Kishan’s availability for the Indian team. The former India captain also reiterated Dravid’s take on Kishan’s exclusion from India’s squad against Afghanistan and clarity over rumours of his ouster due to disciplinary reasons.
“It’s early days, of course, and one doesn’t know when Ishan Kishan, who asked to be allowed to go home from South Africa, is going to make himself available again. Rahul Dravid, the coach of the team, has very clearly said that he has to play in the Ranji Trophy and show his form to be considered for selection,” Gavaskar wrote.
“Dravid also very categorically and firmly debunked the rumours that Kishan was left out because of disciplinary reasons. Hopefully, that will set the matter to rest and not further sully a young man’s name, which was done by some ill-founded speculation after his name was found missing in the Indian squad for the first two Test matches against England,” Gavaskar added.
WHY WAS KISHAN NOT INCLUDED IN INDIA’S SQUAD?
Kishan made himself unavailable for selection for the Test series against South Africa in December 2023 and had returned from the Rainbow Nation. BCCI had informed that Kishan was released from India’s squad for personal reasons. As per reports, he had requested a break due to mental fatigue after a rigorous few months of continuous international cricket. Kishan flew with the Indian squad to South Africa but didn’t get to play any game in the T20I series for India.
Gavaskar lashed out at the media for spoiling Kishan’s name and not getting their facts right. He is hopeful that Kishan will be back in the Indian team soon.
“Players work very hard to play the game at whatever level, so it’s incumbent on the media to get their facts right rather than speculate and spoil a young man’s name. Kishan is a rare talent, and Indian cricket lovers should back him to come back to scoring and entertaining us sooner rather than later,” Gavaskar wrote.
In Kishan’s absence, KL Rahul took over the wicket-keeping duties in Tests for India in South Africa. As per news reports, the management was not happy with Ishan missing the series and going to Dubai instead. The reports cited this as a main reason for Kishan being snubbed from India’s T20I squad against Afghanistan.
Dravid, while addressing a press conference ahead of the 3-match T20I series against Afghanistan, had quashed the media reports and informed that there was no ‘disciplinary action’ against Kishan. He further informed that the wicketkeeper-batter had not made himself available for selection for the T20I series against Afghanistan.