Former South Africa batsman and cricketing legend AB de Villiers has chimed in on the recent selection saga involving Ishan Kishan, stating that he went through what Kishan has been dealing with.
Kishan made himself unavailable for the Test series against South Africa in late December, and has since not returned to the fold for the T20I series against Afghanistan, and now for the ongoing Test series against England.
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Initially, it had been reported that Kishan had been experiencing "travel fatigue" following the Asia Cup and the 2023 World Cup, as well as the tour of South Africa, which is why he needed a break.
However, reports later revealed that the 25-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman was allegedly unhappy with the team management's decision to opt for Jitesh Sharma in the T20I series against South Africa.
Kishan hasn't appeared in a single game for Jharkhand in the current season of the Ranji Trophy, and was spotted training in Baroda with his fellow Mumbai Indians teammate Hardik Pandya instead.
MORE: Why is Ishan Kishan frozen out of the India team setup?
What did AB de Villiers say about Ishan Kishan?
The 39-year-old, in a recent video uploaded on his official YouTube channel, stated that he could understand what Kishan had been going through, but also asserted that Test cricket remains the real deal.
Very interesting scenario there in India and I’ve been through this quite a bit throughout my career as well. It’s a very tricky situation. Players trying to manage their careers, and rightfully so, but the difficulty around this is that there are a lot of T20 leagues around the world, IPL, and it’s taking up a lot of attention of the player's focus is on that.
Very difficult because the ultimate format of the game is still Test cricket and all Test-playing nations really wanna look after the Test format, so there’s a bit of force in all kinds of directions here.
Guys, you do run out of energy, and once you run out of energy, you tend to go in your defensive mode and into a shell where you look after what you feel is important to you, and that’s a human reaction.
MORE: BCCI to make Ranji Trophy experience mandatory for IPL participation
What next for Ishan Kishan?
If the latest reports are to be believed, then Kishan will be seen in action for Jharkhand in their upcoming Ranji Trophy match against Rajasthan in Jamshedpur.
According to the reports, BCCI will make it mandatory for players to play at least 3-4 Ranji Trophy games if they want to participate in the IPL.
Meanwhile, India head coach Rahul Dravid clearly mentioned that Kishan will have to develop match fitness by playing domestic cricket in order to be eligible for selection.
"Ishan Kishan needs to start playing to be considered for selection, we are in touch with him," Dravid revealed in a press conference after India's 106-run win over England in the 2nd Test in Vizag.
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