Ishan Kishan was in the news again on Thursday as he made a surprise appearance in the India C team for the Duleep Trophy match against India B at the Rural Development Trust Stadium B, Anantapur. Initially, BCCI’s release announcing the teams for the second round of the Duleep Trophy matches, did not have the wicketkeeper-batter’s name. However, on Thursday, Ishan Kishan came on to bat for India C at No. 4 position. 

He scored 111 off 126 balls. The innings included 14 fours and three sixes. 

We got Ishan Kishan century clip!

So proud of him and emotional today this is big for us King@ishankishan51 #IshanKishan #DuleepTrophy #DuleepTrophy2024 pic.twitter.com/1RacOucQ3V

— Ishan’s (@IshanWK32) September 12, 2024

He was initially named in India D squad for the first round of Duleep Trophy matches. 

Then, on September 4, BCCI said in a release, “Wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan has been ruled out of the first round of the Duleep Trophy due to a groin injury sustained during the ongoing All-India Buchi Babu Tournament. The BCCI Medical Team is closely monitoring his condition and working towards ensuring a swift recovery.” 

In the same release, BCCI also named the India C and India D squads for the first round of matches, which was, “India C: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Abishek Porel (WK), B Indrajith, Hrithik Shokeen, Manav Suthar, Gaurav Yadav, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Anshul Khamboj, Himanshu Chauhan, Mayank Markande, Aryan Juyal (WK), Sandeep Warrier.

“India D squad: Shreyas lyer (C), Atharva Taide, Yash Dubey, Devdutt Padikkal, Ricky Bhui, Saransh Jain, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Aditya Thakare, Harshit Rana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Sengupta, KS Bharat (WK), Saurabh Kumar, Sanju Samson (WK)” 

Later on September 10, the BCCI wrote in a release announcing squads for Duleep Trophy second round, “Team C squad remains unchanged for the second round. Updated India D squad: Shreyas lyer (C), Atharva Taide, Yash Dubey, Devdutt Padikkal, Ricky Bhui, Saransh Jain, Arshdeep Singh, Aditya Thakare, Harshit Rana, Akash Sengupta, KS Bharat (WK), Saurabh Kumar, Sanju Samson (WK), Nishant Sindhu, Vidwath Kaverappa.”

Hence, Kishan’s name was not there in both the squads.

Kishan had garnered negative publicity after he returned midway from India’s Tour of South Africa due to personal reasons late last year. Since then, he has not been considered for the national team though he is one of most aggressive options as wicketkeeper-batter in the country. 

Earlier, it was reported that his perceived reluctance to feature in domestic cricket was a likely reason behind him being ignored for international series. However, when he was named for the Duleep Trophy first round of matches, it was seen as a positive step.