Ishan Kishan named captain of India's domestic team despite past tensions with BCCI

Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan is set to begin his road for an India comeback through the upcoming Buchi Babu Trophy 2024, where he will lead his state team Jharkhand. The tournament will begin on August 15 in the state of Tamil Nadu.

Buchi Babu is a pre-season tournament that is named after Buchi Babu Naidu, who was a pioneer in bringing cricket to the masses in the Madras presidency during that time. The tournament consists of four-day matches including 12 teams, of which 10 are state teams while two teams are from Tamil Nadu.

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Ishan Kishan returns to red-ball cricket as Jharkhand's captain

Ishan Kishan was initially not a part of Jharkhand's original squad but was later added after his communication with the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA). It is an important move from the youngster and it can be seen as the initial step for his return to domestic cricket.

"With Ishan, it was never about ability. It was only about whether he was ready to return. The decision was with him. When he was not included in the initial list, it was only because we hadn't heard from him. The moment he expressed his keenness to return, he was drafted in," a JSCA functionary was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

Not only he will return, but Ishan Kishan has also been appointed the captain of Jharkhand. Kishan is also expected to return for the Ranji Trophy later this year, according to ESPNCricinfo. He did not play Ranji Trophy last year which even resulted in the termination of his central contract.

What led to Ishan Kishan's ouster from India's plans?

The left-handed batter was in India's plans until last year. However, he withdrew from India's squad in between the South Africa tour citing mental fatigue. When he was later asked to play Ranji Trophy for Jharkhand, Kishan informed the selectors that he was not yet ready for a comeback.

However, he was found to be training privately with his IPL captain Hardik Pandya during this time. As a result, the board was unhappy with his attitude towards domestic cricket and ultimately removed him from BCCI's annual central contracts list, where he was in Grade C.

He played the whole season of IPL, scoring 320 runs in 14 matches at an average of 22.86 and a strike rate of 148.84. Since then, he has been out of professional cricket and is out of India's plans.

Tough competition for Ishan Kishan

With Rishabh Pant set for a Test return against Bangladesh and Dhruv Jurel already proving his potential as a wicketkeeper-batter in the home series against England, Kishan has now moved down the list. He will have to perform again in domestic cricket in order to win his place back.

Ishan Kishan has played 2 Tests, 27 ODIs, and 32 T20Is for India so far. He is one of the few batters in the world to have scored a double hundred so far. The 26-year-old was also in India's squad for the ODI World Cup 2023, where India finished runners-up. Kishan played the initial few games of the tournament when Shubman Gill was unavailable.