Reports: Indian Cricket Board selectors in all likelihood are looking beyond Ishan Kishan

The Indian Cricket Board selectors have announced the three matches of the T20I squad against Afghanistan, which is all set to commence on January 11. Notably, the series has marked the surprise inclusion of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Sanju Samson in the squad. However, a few big names, like Ishan Kishan and Umran Malik, have been missing from the recently announced squad.

However, reports claim that Ishan Kishan wasn’t happy with the team as he had been travelling but getting dropped multiple times, despite being in great form. Notably, the left-handed batter gets the chance to play the first two games of the ODI World Cup 2023. The young batter was part of the T20I series against Australia but didn’t get the chance in the last two T20Is, while he opted to flee India during the South Africa tour.

Reports further claimed that selectors are looking beyond Ishan Kishan. However, it will be interesting to see whether Ishan Kishan will be available for selection for the five matches of the Test series against England slated to commence on January 25 in Hyderabad.

In any case, selectors are in all likelihood looking beyond Ishan Kishan: Report

“Ishan wasn’t happy that he was travelling without much game time. He is on a break right now and is vacationing. In any case, selectors are in all likelihood looking beyond Kishan. It will be interesting if he is picked for the England Test series where KS Bharat will be back behind the stumps,” news agency PTI quoted an Indian Cricket Board source as saying.

“Decisions on Rohit and Virat can’t solely be taken by the selection committee. There is a lot at stake, broadcasters, sponsors and you can’t pick one and drop the other. Ajit and his team needed to maintain a status quo,” a former India selector told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

India’s Squad for 3 T20Is against Afghanistan: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.