Ishan Kishan declines Indian Cricket Board’s offer to appear in Test series vs England at home: Reports

India’s star cricketers, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer, were excluded from the Indian Cricket Board’s annual contracts due to their non-participation with the board’s decision to participate in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season on several occasions.

However, a plethora of reports claim that India’s star batter, Ishan Kishan, was provided a chance at redemption by the management. Notably, this opportunity coincided with the time when Jay Shah, who is secretary of the Indian Cricket Board, communicated with centrally contracted players, advising them not to prioritise the IPL over domestic cricket.

In the absence of Ishan Kishan, rising star Dhruv Jurel seized the moment, delivering an outstanding performance in Ranchi and contributing significantly to India’s triumph in the five-match Test series against England.

Meanwhile, the 25-year-old cricketer was last seen in action during the T20I series against Australia, immediately after the conclusion of the ODI World Cup 2023. However, the left-handed batter withdrew from the tour to South Africa in December, citing mental fatigue concerns. Subsequently, the Southpaw missed the home T20I match against Afghanistan, which was the final preparation ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 scheduled for June 1 in the West Indies and USA.

Ishan Kishan said he was not ready yet: Reports

According to ESPNCricinfo, the Indian team management extended an opportunity for Ishan Kishan to make amends by offering him a place in the Test squad for the series against England. Despite this, the 25-year-old declined, stating that he wasn’t prepared at that moment. The timeline of this offer is unspecified in the report, but it likely occurred after KL Rahul had been ruled out for the second Test match. In addition, the reports further revealed that the team was in need of Ishan Kishan as KS Bharat was completely out of form and he didn’t get the chance after the first two Test matches.

“ESPNCricinfo understands the team management had got in touch with him (Kishan) during the ongoing Test series against England, but Kishan said he was not ready yet,” read the report on the cricket website.