Ishan Kishan Likely to Sit Out Another Ranji Trophy Fixture

Ishan Kishan will remain absent from the Ranji Trophy, extending his absence to the final round beginning on February 16. Kumar Kushagra will continue as the wicketkeeper for Jharkhand. Jharkhand, with just one victory and 10 points from six matches, will face Rajasthan in Jamshedpur for their last game. Kishan’s prolonged absence from cricket continues to attract attention.

CricketNext has learnt 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.

Dravid, however, had insisted after the second India-England Test that Kishan needs to play “some cricket” to make a comeback.

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Dravid’s Stance on Ishan Kishan’s Return to Cricket

“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,” Dravid had said.

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.

Even after the break, Kishan had a golden opportunity to get some game time in the ongoing Ranji Trophy but he chose to work on his fitness in Baroda. The move, and continuous absence, hasn’t gone down well with 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 emphasised that the ultimatum applies to everyone and not just Ishan.

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