For Ishan Kishan, the start of 2024 began a two-year period when he was firmly out of the scheme of things for India, a sudden reversal for the country’s highly-rated wicketkeeper-batter who was considered to have an unsatisfactory attitude and mindset in the murky aftermath of his request for a mental fatigue-induced break.
The same Kishan starts 2026 with a resounding return to the national team on Wednesday, when he will feature in the first of the five-match T20I series against New Zealand. He does so by fortuitously riding the changing tides of Indian cricket. Proclamations can be fickle; especially considering a team in transition.
To say that India’s T20 set-up is in a transitional phase may seem ridiculous, considering this is a team on an eight-series winning streak having phased out the superstars who featured in the victorious 2024 campaign. But Kishan’s return to the India fold itself is plenty of evidence. Just two months ago, when India was playing five T20s against South Africa, his name was nowhere in the reckoning.
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Two pieces of good fortune led to Kishan receiving his first India cap since November 2023. The first was the surprise change of mind on Shubman Gill, the out-of-form vice-captain being dropped for the World Cup a few months after he was shoehorned into the side. It was then decided that Jitesh Sharma’s place was tenuous; with Sanju Samson moving back up to open, his stand-in must be a top-order batter too. With Kishan among runs, fresh off spearheading Jharkhand to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with a 51-ball hundred in the final, he was deemed worthy of a punt.
The second piece of good luck came with Tilak Varma’s injury last week, opening a place for a top-order batter in the New Zealand series. The team management may have been tempted to play Shreyas Iyer, Tilak’s replacement in the squad, but it was only fair, skipper Suryakumar Yadav confirmed, that after being picked for the World Cup, Kishan should get the nod.
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“Ishan will play at No.3 tomorrow,” Surya confirmed on Tuesday. “We picked him first for the World Cup team, so it’s only fair that he gets the chance first. He also has not played for India in a long time. He deserves to play. Unfortunately, Tilak is not in that position, so we feel Ishan is our best bet at No. 3.”
No stress
During training on Tuesday, Kishan struck a composed figure, neither looking out of place or uncertain. He trained, mostly against spin, with the easy-going style that he has made his own. He left the ground with a conciliatory arm around his good mate Iyer’s shoulders.
The prospect of him scoring big in the limited chances he gets in this series adds a fresh layer of intrigue to India’s problem of plenty. Will it tempt the team management to go with him ahead of Samson or even Varma?
Captain Surya is expected to be backed by the team management through the World Cup; traditional wisdom backs that call. But will it not put him in an awkward position to continue to play despite his dire form – he is without a 50+ score in his last 22 outings, averaging just shy of 13 – while he makes at least one of Kishan, Varma, Iyer and Sanju sit out, especially after Gill was dropped for that very reason?
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