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Indian wicketkeeper-batter, Ishan Kishan made his return to domestic cricket after Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary, Jay Shah mandate participation of players, including the one centrally contracted. Although the opening round of the Duleep Trophy 2024-25 saw several members of the Indian team, including Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul among others feature in the tournament, the squads were then updated after BCCI announced 16-member team for the first Test against Bangladesh.
After the departure of key players, Ishan Kishan, who was ruled out of the first round with a groin injury, returned to Duleep Trophy. The middle-order batter brought up a century for India C on his return. Moreover, it was his seventh in his 51st First-Class outing in Anantapur, which comes after his decent run at the Buchi Babu Invitational tournament.
Ishan Kishan scores 126-ball 111 to help India C post comprehensive total on board
The wicketkeeper-batter scored 111 runs off 126 deliveries, consisting of 14 fours and three sixes. The 26-year-old stitched crucial partnerships with Sai Sudharsan and Rajat Patidar after captain, Ruturaj Gaikwad was forced to leave the field retired hurt after reportedly twisting his ankle.
Watch Ishan Kishan bring up his century during Duleep trophy 2024-25:
Speaking of the match, India C were invited to bat first in the ongoing match against India B. While the side lost Gaikwad early, he returned to take the field and is currently unbeaten at 46 at Stumps on Day 1. The side has so far scored 357 runs at the loss of five wickets in 79 overs so far with Gaikwad and Manav Suthar (8*) in the middle.
Ishan Kishan BCCI contract snub saga
The 26-year-old wicketkeeper-batter has been in the news since the start of the year after he withdrew from the South Africa series last year in December, citing mental fatigue. Since then, the Indian batter has been out of the scheme of things as he wasn’t picked for the Zimbabwe tour and featured for the first time in 2024 during the IPL. Although, he did not have a great outing in the tournament as he could amass only 320 runs in 14 matches at an average of 22.86 and a strike rate of 148.83.
Days after the series of incident unfolded, Kishan later in a chat with Indian Express revealed that the past few months were depressing, and he is still figuring out what happened. “I don’t want to be sad about anything. I’ll keep giving my best. It was depressing. Today I don’t want to say that everything was fine. It was not easy for me at all. You go through a lot. Mere dimag mein ye sab chalta raha hai ki yeh kya hogaya, kyu ho gaya, mere saath kyu (Questions like what happened, why).”
However, he added that after an extended break, in order to make a place for himself in the Indian side, he will have to perform in domestic cricket. In the same interaction, Kishan said, “I took a break and I think it was normal. There is a rule that if you want to make a comeback you must perform in domestic cricket. It is as simple as that. Now, it was very different for me to play domestic cricket as it was not making any sense. I was not in a frame of mind to play and that is why I took a break from international cricket. It doesn't make sense that you take a break from international cricket and then you go and play domestic matches. Fir toh aap international hi khelte (Then I could have continued playing for India).”
