"Jay Shah needs to talk to Ishan Kishan.."- Sourav Ganguly

Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly has shared his views on Ishan Kishan’s situation. The young wicketkeeper-batsman has fallen out of favor with the BCCI as well as the Indian team management after ignoring their directive to play domestic cricket.

He has not played for Team India since November last year. While he was a part of the T20I and Test squads for the South Africa tour, he did not play any games. Just before the start of the Test series, he took a break and was released from the squad. He was expected to be named in the squad for the home T20I series against Afghanistan last month but was not included.

He was also ignored for the ongoing Test series against England as India head coach Rahul Dravid made it clear that the batter will have to play domestic cricket to be eligible for selection again. The BCCI also issued a directive to the players, telling them to play domestic cricket when not a part of the Indian team.

Sourav Ganguly on Ishan Kishan situation:

However, Ishan Kishan ignored the directive and decided against playing in the Ranji Trophy. With the Jharkhand batter openly defying the directive, the BCCI came down hard on him and dropped him from the central contracts list.

The entire situation has once again reignited the debate over the young cricketer’s priorities. Many believe that young cricketers are now prioritizing the IPL over red-ball cricket. However, Sourav Ganguly believes otherwise. The former India skipper stated that there are only a few exceptions who are not willing to play Ranji games and said that they need guidance from the BCCI officials such as Secretary Jay Shah and President Roger Binny.

“For someone like Ishan Kishan, BCCI secretary Jay Shah, president Roger Binny, and the selectors need to speak to him. All this while he has played Ranji and then played white-ball cricket. Has it made him a poorer player? It hasn’t,” Sourav Ganguly told the Times of India.

“All the players picked in Delhi Capitals have played Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, and Ranji Trophy. Even Ishant Sharma has played Ranji. Khaleel Ahmed has played the full season after a long time. We worked with him in the off-season and got him fit to play Ranji. There are only one or two exceptions who need to be spoken to,” he added.

Meanwhile, Kishan recently returned to action in the ongoing DY Patil T20 Cup. He will also be playing for Mumbai Indians later this month when IPL 2024 gets underway.