India vs Bangladesh: Ishan Kishan to be picked for India squad after Duleep Trophy century? Check details

India's dynamic wicket-keeper batsman Ishan Kishan has been under the headlines for various reasons during the last few months both on and off the field. Earlier, it was during the bilateral series in South Africa when the southpaw batter suddenly told the team management that he wanted to opt out of the Test squad due to some personal reasons. The Indian team management and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) together decided to release him from the squad. He reportedly took a break from the game due to mental health issues and was not considered in the Indian cricket team across the three formats of the game since that opting out from the India vs South Africa Test series. However, Ishan has once again striked into the limelight with a fantastic century in the second round of the Duleep Trophy 2024. 

India vs Bangladesh: Ishan Kishan eyes return to India Test squad after Duleep Trophy hundred

Incidentally, Ishan Kishan was not part of the updated Duleep Trophy 2024 squads for the second round as he was ruled out of contention since suffering a groin injury during the recently concluded edition of the Buchi Babu Invitational competition. He was straightaway drafted into the India C Playing XI and everyone came across this cricket news at the time of the toss when skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad announced the side. Interestingly, the left-handed wicket-keeper batsman scored a wonderful hundred in his first outing as the Jharkhand captain in the recently concluded Buchi Babu Invitational tournament 2024. While talking about the Duleep Trophy India B vs India C match, Ishan came to bat at the number four position. 

With India C strangled at 97 for 2, Ishan Kishan came at the crease and he took the attack against the opposition bowlers from the very first ball at the Rural Development Trust Stadium B in Anantapur. He went on to smash the India B bowlers in all parts of the cricket ground having played a brilliant innings of 111 runs off 126 balls that included 14 fours and 3 sixes. He was eventually dismissed by right-arm pacer Mukesh Kumar having his stumps cleaned up. 

After this amazing century, Ishan Kishan has once again opened the debate of him being considered to be part of India Test squad for the upcoming India vs Bangladesh Test series. The BCCI has already announced the India squad consisting of as many as 16 members for the IND vs BAN 1st Test match scheduled to begin from 19 September, 2024 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. One of India's best wicket-keeper batters in the modern-day cricket, Rishabh Pant, has made his way back to the Test team since that life-threatening car accident and Dhruv Jurel as the other wicket-keeper batsman in the squad. 

Out of the three formats of the game, Rishabh has performed exceedingly well in Test cricket since making his debut in 2018. The southpaw batter has smashed a total of 2271 runs from 33 Test matches at an impressive average of more than 43 that includes 11 half-centuries and 5 hundreds. More importantly, he has scored exceptional Test hundreds in difficult away conditions namely England, Australia and South Africa. On the other hand, Jurel made his Test debut in the home series against England earlier this year and went on to play an excellent match-winning knock of 90 runs in the fourth Test match. 

Therefore, both Rishabh and Dhruv deserve to be part of the Indian Test team ahead of Ishan Kishan as the wicket-keeper batsmen choices. It will be not that much surprising news to digest if Kishan is not selected even in the India Test squad for the second Test match against Bangladesh especially after being dropped from India central contract list earlier this year. However, he will have to keep scoring big runs to stay in the contention. Former India head coach Rahul Dravid also went on to say during a previous press conference that Ishan will only be considered if he makes himself available first and then regularly performs well at the domestic level.