India domestic - Ishan Kishan set for red-ball return, to lead Jharkhand in Buchi Babu tournament

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Ishan Kishan will lead Jharkhand in the upcoming Buchi Babu tournament, a pre-season red-ball competition in Tamil Nadu starting August 15. Kishan, who was not part of Jharkhand’s original long list, will link up with the squad in Chennai on Wednesday.

The move is seen as the first step towards the wicketkeeper-batter’s full-fledged return to first-class cricket. ESPNcricinfo understands Kishan took the decision to participate, and he was drafted in when he communicated this to the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA).

A return to the Ranji Trophy fold is also expected during the 2024-25 season, after Kishan informed the state selectors of his desire to return. His last domestic first-class game was in December 2022. He stayed away from the Ranji Trophy towards the end of the 2023-24 domestic season, and this proved costly for him, with the BCCI removing him from the central contracts list for not prioritising domestic cricket.

“With Ishan, it was never about ability,” a JSCA functionary said. “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.”

Kishan’s return to red-ball cricket comes at a time when India are heading into a long Test season, comprising 10 games over the next five months, but a comeback won’t be easy. Kishan made his Test debut during India’s tour of the West Indies last year, when Rishabh Pant was recovering from injuries sustained during a car accident in December 2022.

The second Test of that Caribbean tour, in July 2023, remains Kishan’s last first-class game. He was picked in the Test squad for the 2023-24 South Africa tour too, but he asked to be released citing mental fatigue.

He may have been in line for a Test return during the five-Test home series against England earlier this year, but lost out to KS Bharat and Dhruv Jurel after he informed the selectors that he wasn’t ready. He did not take part in the Ranji Trophy either, and the selectors, whose inputs are taken on board by the BCCI when it draws up the central contracts list, were not pleased that Kishan used his time away from the game to train privately with his IPL captain Hardik Pandya in Baroda, instead of playing for Jharkhand.

Pant is now back in action, and Jurel, who impressed with both his batting and glovework against England, particularly during a Player-of-the-Match display in Ranchi, has moved ahead of Kishan in India’s red-ball queue.

Kishan, who had a Grade C contract until losing it this year, featured in two Tests, 17 ODIs and 11 T20Is in 2023. He was also part of India’s squad during their run to the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup, and featured in two matches at the top of the order when Shubman Gill was out ill.

“When you take a break, people gossip about it a lot, they say a lot of things on social media,” Kishan had said in April, referring to his time away from the game. “But I feel it’s important to understand not everything is in players’ hands. We can only make the best use of the break.

“This is what adopting a good mindset is. There is nothing like I want to prove to someone. I just have to go there and enjoy. I have learned that you do not have to add pressure on yourself about these things, which are not in your hand.”

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