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Cricket PlayersWith Gill fumbling and selectors revising plans, Ishan Kishan struck while the iron was hot to force his India comeback
Dropped, sidelined and written off, Ishan Kishan forced his way back into India’s T20 World Cup plans through domestic runs and timely form.
In December 2023, Ishan Kishan stepped away from competitive cricket, citing mental health concerns, even as he remained in the Indian team’s plans. That pause, however, triggered a sharp disruption. It cost him momentum, his central contract, and eventually his place in the conversation.
But instead of fading into the background, a familiar fate in Indian cricket, where depth leaves little room for extended absence, Kishan chose a different path. He leaned on patience and clarity amid the chaos, and focused on the only currency that truly counts: runs. He kept scoring, kept responding, and kept waiting. When the T20 World Cup squad was finally announced, it was persistence, not noise, that carried him back into contention.
How Ishan Kishan lost his place in the Indian team
A double century in ODI cricket is a rare feat. Only five Indians have achieved it, and Ishan is one of them. In December 2022, he smashed a breathtaking 210 off just 126 balls against Bangladesh in Chattogram, the fastest double hundred in ODI history. The innings should have been career-defining, a launchpad to long-term security in India’s white-ball set-up. Instead, Ishan suffered the Karun Nair effect.
Over the next year, Ishan largely became a travelling reserve across formats, seldom trusted with sustained game time. In 2023, he featured in 17 of India’s 23 T20Is, only two of eight Tests, and 11 of 35 ODIs. He was selected for the ODI World Cup squad, but was dropped after just two matches, despite having played a crucial role earlier in the Asia Cup, where his gritty 91 against Pakistan on a challenging Pallekele pitch helped rescue India from collapse.
The pattern continued on the subsequent tour of South Africa. Despite being a left-handed wicketkeeper-batter, a like-for-like alternative to the injured Rishabh Pant, Ishan was overlooked for the T20I series as India opted for right-hander Jitesh Sharma instead.
Running short on clarity and opportunities, Ishan reportedly sought a mental health break, even though he had been assured of keeping wickets in the Test series in South Africa. In February 2024, then head coach Rahul Dravid publicly confirmed that the request had come from Ishan himself, adding that the timing of his return would be “his choice”.
However, events off the field soon complicated matters. Ishan’s appearance on Kaun Banega Crorepati alongside Smriti Mandhana reportedly did not sit well with sections of the establishment, and scrutiny intensified after he was seen attending a family celebration in Dubai during the break.
Around the same time, the BCCI issued a clear directive mandating centrally contracted players to participate in domestic cricket when not on international duty. While neither the board nor team officials publicly commented on Ishan’s mental health status, there was an expectation that he would turn out for Jharkhand.
Instead, Ishan was spotted training with Hardik Pandya at the latter’s academy in Baroda in preparation for the IPL. The move reportedly did not go down well with the selectors. The fallout was swift and severe: Kishan, along with Shreyas Iyer, was dropped from the BCCI’s 2023–24 central contracts list.
From that point on, Ishan slipped out of national contention altogether. He was not considered for selection in any format, with his last international appearance remaining the third T20I against Australia in Guwahati in November 2023.
How Ishan Kishan made his way back to the Indian team
The road back to the Indian team was anything but a Cinderella story. It was instead shaped by patience, persistence and belief.
That year in the IPL, the spotlight was firmly on Ishan. But the Mumbai Indians batter couldn’t fully capitalise on the platform, managing 320 runs at a strike rate of 149, which wasn't enough to force his way back into national reckoning.
The 27-year-old responded by making himself available for the domestic grind. He turned out in the Buchi Babu Invitational Tournament, followed by the Duleep Trophy, where he struck a century, and then featured in the Irani Cup. His red-ball push earned him a spot in the India A squad for the tour of Australia. He later represented Jharkhand in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy during the 2024–25 season, averaging 32 and 45, respectively, with strike rates of 167 and 128. These numbers quietly rebuilt his case.
As another December arrived in his life, Ishan also found perspective away from cricket. According to a Times of India report, a quote from the Bhagavad Gita that he stumbled upon while scrolling online sparked his curiosity. A subsequent conversation with his father led him to order the book, which has since become an integral part of his routine.
Soon, signs of a turnaround followed. Ishan was reinstated into the BCCI’s central contracts earlier this year, placed in the Grade C category, a significant step back into the system.
In the IPL, now representing Sunrisers Hyderabad, he scored a century and enjoyed a steady campaign. In June, he gained further exposure by playing county cricket for Nottinghamshire before returning to India for the domestic season, remaining a consistent presence in the India A set-up.
He came close to a major breakthrough during the England tour earlier this summer, emerging as the frontrunner to replace the injured Rishabh Pant for the Oval Test. Injury, however, ruled him out, with Tamil Nadu’s N Jagadeesan drafted in instead. Ishan was also reportedly considered for the ODI series against South Africa last month but fell short of securing unanimous backing at the selection table.
The breakthrough finally arrived in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Leading Jharkhand to a maiden title, Ishan produced the defining moment of the tournament in the final, smashing a 45-ball century against Haryana at the Gahunje Stadium in Pune. He finished the competition with 517 runs at a staggering strike rate of 197.32.
Even then, Ishan wasn’t an automatic pick for India’s T20 World Cup squad. But circumstances shifted. With the Gill experiment faltering, the selectors were keen on a wicketkeeper who could open the innings. Samson was chosen as the first option, and Ishan followed as the backup.
“He bats at the top in white-ball cricket, he’s been in good form and he’s played before for India,” chief selector Ajit Agarkar said at the squad announcement press conference. “He has a double hundred in one-day cricket. He wasn’t in the team earlier because there were Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel ahead of him, two very good players. It’s got nothing to do with anything else.”
Whether Ishan earns game time in the upcoming T20I series against New Zealand or at the World Cup itself remains to be seen. But for now, his return marks something bigger, not just a recall, but a reminder that in Indian cricket, persistence can still find its moment.
