Ishan Kishan has been in trumendous form for Jharkhand cricket team in domestic cricket. He captained the state team in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy triumph. Because of his recent form, the keeper-batter was in contention to get a chance in the ODI squad for the series against New Zealand.

Why Ishan Kishan is not in India vs New Zealand ODI squad?

Team India has been selected for the ODI series against New Zealand. Captain Shubman Gill has returned fit. Shreyas Iyer has also returned. Interestingly, Ishan Kishan has not returned to the ODI team; Rishabh Pant has been retained in his place as the second wicketkeeper. After Ishan Kishan’s excellent innings, there were reports that he would also return to the ODI team, but Pant was chosen over him due to Ajit Agarkar and captain Shubman Gill.

According to a report in revsportz, Ajit Agarkar and his selection committee were reluctant to drop Pant without giving him a chance. Shubman Gill also supported his name. According to the report, Gill also spoke in favor of Pant, and the captain and the selection committee were in complete agreement that Pant should be retained as a backup to KL Rahul in ODIs.

However, Ishan Kishan was also discussed in the selection meeting. The selectors are keeping an eye on him. The Jharkhand captain started this season of the Vijay Hazare Trophy with a blistering century against Karnataka. He then missed a few matches and returned on Saturday against Kerala, scoring 21 runs.

Interestingly, Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan are good friends, and in the selection meeting, he supported Pant instead of his friend, which is commendable. However, fans are quite upset with Ishan Kishan’s non-selection.

India’s ODI squad: Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh and Yashasvi Jaiswal.