Ishan Kishan has scored a century on his return to domestic cricket in the red-ball format. Playing for India C, the left-hander impressed with a knock of 111 runs off just 126 balls with 14 fours and three sixes. Interestingly, he was part of India D ahead of the first round but was ruled out due to injury. There was no mention of Kishan in the BCCI press release when the selectors announced squads for the second round.
Much to everyone's surprise, Ishan turned up for India C and batted at four. He came out to bat when the team had lost two quick wickets at the score of 97 and stitched an 189-run partnership with Baba Indrajith for the third wicket. This is his seventh century in first-class cricket and this performance certainly holds him in good stead, especially after what happened earlier this year during the home series against England.
He didn't make himself available to play for Jharkhand in the Ranji Trophy and instead was in Baroda training with Hardik Pandya ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Despite clear instructions from the BCCI, the cricketer stayed away from red-ball cricket for unknown reasons and ended up losing a central contract. He is currently not a part of India squads across any format despite being the first-choice keeper at one stage.
This led to India calling back KS Bharat for the England series and even Dhruv Jurel made his Test debut. The latter is now in India's squad for the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh after a good show against England scoring 190 runs in four innings with a half-century to his name.
Kishan's successful return can challenge Jurel for his place in the Indian team but the aggressive batter from Jharkhand will have to be consistent to be considered again for the national team. But his fans are certainly happy for him after his recent century as 'Bring back Ishan Kishan' started trending on Twitter (X) demanding his return to the Indian team.
