The Indian batter Ishan Kishan will be returning to Jharkhand as captain for the upcoming Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season.
He will make his comeback after pulling out last season which led to his exclusion from the BCCI central contract. The left-hand batter who has been regular in India’s white-ball squad after Rishabh Pant’s road accident in December 2022, took a break during India’s tour of South Africa last year.
After the break, he did not participate in any official BCCI matches as the board insisted on players prioritising domestic cricket when not on national duty.
The 26-year-old resurfaced this February, playing in the privately organised DY Patil T20 Cup ahead of the IPL.
His absence from domestic cricket during this period contributed to his omission from BCCI’s 2023-24 central contracts.
However, Kishan has been looking his way back into international action with a strong performance in domestic cricket, including a century for India C in the Duleep Trophy last month.
He has been part of the Rest of India which played in the Irani Cup 2024. Last season, Jharkhand finished third from the bottom of Group A, winning two matches out of seven matches.
“Ishan is an experienced player and has international experience. We have selected a young team. Saurabh Tiwari, Shahbaz Nadeem and Varun Aaron all retired after last season.”
“So we had to rethink our strategy. Ishan is capable of leading this young side and we’re confident of doing well this Ranji season,” said Jharkhand Selection Committee chairman Subroto Das.
Jharkhand will begin their Ranji Trophy campaign against Assam on October 11 at Barsapara Stadium.
Jharkhand Team for Ranji Trophy: Ishan Kishan (Captain), Virat Singh (Vice Captain), Kumar Kushagra (Wicketkeeper), Nazim Siddiqui, Aryaman Sen, Sharandeep Singh, Kumar Suraj, Anukul Roy, Utkarsh Singh, Supriyo Chakraborty, Saurabh Shekhar, Vikas Kumar, Vivekanand Tiwari, Manishi, Ravi Kumar Yadav and Raunak Kumar.
