After questions swirled around Ishan Kishan’s prolonged absence from competitive cricket, the wicketkeeper-batsman was spotted working out and practicing in Baroda, where he has been stationed for the past couple of weeks, honing his skills at the Reliance Stadium in the city, says a report.
Kishan had been training at the Kiran More Academy in Baroda, alongside the Pandya brothers – Hardik and Krunal, according to a report in Cricbuzz.
Hardik Pandya will captain the Mumbai Indians, an Indian Premier League franchise that Kishan also represents.
Confirming Kishan’s presence, Kiran More disclosed to Cricbuzz that the 25-year-old was indeed training at his academy. However, he couldn’t divulge much as he was in Mumbai with the Mumbai Indians’ Women’s Premier League (WPL) side at the time.
Having not played a game since November 2023 and showing no inclination towards competitive cricket after leaving the team set up in South Africa mid-December, Kishan had missed out on opportunities despite national coach Rahul Dravid’s remarks about participation being necessary for national selection.
It was confirmed that he would not be part of his home state Jharkhand’s Ranji game against Haryana in Jamshedpur from February 9. Discussions were ongoing about whether his continued absence would impact the BCCI’s consideration for central contracts. At that point, he holds a Grade C contract with an annual retainership of Rs 1 crore.
With KS Bharat not exactly excelling during the recent Vizag Test, Kishan had potentially missed out on a good chance to feature in the ongoing Test series against England.
Previously when asked about Kishan’s chances, coach Dravid had said, “I just don’t want to go on labouring about the Ishan Kishan point. Whenever he is ready, I didn’t say he has to play domestic cricket, I said whenever he is ready… he needs to play some cricket and come back. The choice is his. We are not forcing him to do anything. We are in touch with him.”
Dravid had also mentioned, “We know what it is. He hasn’t yet started playing, right? At the moment, it’s not something that we would consider. He is maybe not ready. He decides when he wants to be ready.”
It had become clear that the earliest Kishan could play was in the IPL scheduled for March-May.
The Indian team selection for the last three Tests had been expected over the following two days, and it has been reported that Virat Kohli would not be part of the squad.