Ishan Kishan declines opportunity to play Duleep Trophy one month ahead of West Indies Tests: Report

Ishan Kishan has refused to play in the upcoming Duleep Trophy tournament as he opted out of the East Zone team. Kishan’s decision has put questions on his Test cricket ambitions. “Since he was in India squad for WTC final and KS Bharat, the man who kept wickets is playing for South Zone, we asked Zonal selection committee convenor Debasish Chakraborty to tell us if we could select Kishan,” an East Zone selection committee member told news agency PTI. “As he is a senior India regular in white ball, he would have got the captaincy. Chakraborty got in touch with Ishan over phone and came back and told us that he is not interested in playing Duleep Trophy. We were not told if he has an injury or not. Just that he doesn’t want to play,” the selector said. The wicketkeeper-batter was part of India’s World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final squad but failed to get into the playing XI as KS Bharat was given the glovework duties. With Rishabh Pant still recovering from the injuries suffered in the December car crash, Kishan has been one of the favourites for the keeper’s slot in the Test side, and while Bharat has played for India in recent matches, the Andhra Pradesh keeper’s batting form has made a number of experts and fans call for Kishan’s inclusion into the team. India’s next international assignment is in West Indies next month where they will also play two Tests. But it’s to be seen if Kishan will be considered for the Test side after refusing to play in the Duleep Trophy. India A skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran will be captaining the East Zone and former India spinner Shahbaz Nadeem will be his deputy. After Kishan’s refusal, Tripura selector Jayanta Dey approached Wriddhiman Saha for the spot. “To be fair to Wriddhiman, he said that Duleep Trophy is for India hopefuls. If I am never going to play for India, then doesn’t make sense in preventing a youngster from making a case. Hence we selected Abhishek Porel, who was the third choice,” the selector added. Squad: A Easwaran (capt), Santanu Mishra, Sudip Gharami, Riyan Parag, A. Majumdar, Bipin Saurabh, A Porel (wk), K Kushagra (wk), S Nadeem (vc), Shahbaz Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Anukul Roy, M Mura Singh, Ishan Porel. Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.