T20 World Cup 2024 Champions are ready to fly to Sri Lanka! Except for Ishan Kishan, who Rishabh Pant will replace, most of the players from last year’s ODI World Cup squad will travel to Sri Lanka. Huge surprises came out when the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee met with head coach Gautam Gambhir.
Coach selected India’s One-Day International team for the Sri Lanka tour. No clear reason was revealed for dropping Ishan Kishan. But now here’s another question, who will lead India’s T20I team? Well, selectors and board officials still need to agree on the skipper between Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya. No doubt, Surya is said to hold the upper hand at the moment.
Ishan Kishan’s Position in the ODI Team
The three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) in Sri Lanka are set to begin on August 2. It’s part of a total of six ODIs that India will play before the Champions Trophy in February 2025. And the other three of which will be against England next year.
Rohit Sharma will no longer play T20Is, nor will Virat Kohli or Ravindra Jadeja. These 3 players announced their retirement from the format after winning the T20 World Cup last month. Now Sharma is poised to return as the ODI captain. Rohit had requested a long break from the BCCI after a hectic last six months of nonstop play. But when Gambhir approached him, the opener changed his mind.
Gambhir and the selectors wanted Rohit to take leadership of the ODI team. They already outlined a strategy for the future under the new administration. Most of the players from last year’s ODI World Cup squad will return except Ishan Kishan, who Rishabh Pant will replace. The lefty was a member of the Indian squad in all three formats till last year. However, he has suddenly fallen out of favor after returning from the midst of the South Africa tour earlier this year. The reason behind this was something personal.
The Backstory of Ishan’s Withdrawal
The action was apparently against the wishes of then-head coach Rahul Dravid and skipper Rohit Sharma. Furthermore, he frequently rejected the BCCI’s strict directives to play domestic cricket to show his fitness.
In an interview with The Indian Express, Ishan Kishan explained that he took a break due to travel fatigue. He stated that he was scoring runs and then found himself on the bench, which is normal in a team sport. However, he was not feeling well, so he decided to take a break. Unfortunately, only his family and a few close friends understood his decision.” Ishan Kishan said.
When asked about the BCCI’s rule of playing domestic cricket before being considered for a comeback, Kishan stated he understands it. “It is impossible to learn.” After being withdrawn from the contract list, Ishan Kishan returned to professional cricket, taking on Route Mobile Limited in the 18th DY Patil T20 Cup 2024. He went on to play for the Mumbai Indians, the five-time IPL champions, in 2024. The southpaw batter scored 320 runs in 14 games at an average of 22.86 and a strike rate of 148.84.
Shreyas and KL Rahul’s Comeback
Shreyas Iyer is projected to make the squad, despite losing his national contract due to skipping domestic cricket matches. Iyer captained the Kolkata Knight Riders, the 2024 IPL champions, for whom Gambhir served as team trainer. KL Rahul, too, will return to action. It would be fascinating to see if he remains the first-choice goalkeeper now that Rishabh Pant has returned to full fitness. Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah (rest), and Mohammed Shami (injury) are the other players who will be absent for the ODIs.
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