With Afghanistan’s India tour 2024 set to begin on January 11, the Indian head coach Rahul Dravid had opened in the absence of Ishan Kishan for the T20I series.
Dravid on Ishan’s absence for Afghanistan T20I series
The Men in Blues is scheduled to play in a T20I series on Afghanistan’s India tour in 2024.
With BCCI having announced their squad for the upcoming T20I series, the head coach Rahul Dravid has explained why Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were not picked for the squad at the pre-match conference on January 10.
With reports suggesting disciplinary issues as the cause of their absence, Dravid has denied such claims. Both Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were absent in the 16-member squad for the Afghanistan T20Is.
Dravid explained that Ishan Kishan had requested a break during the South Africa tour, which was approved by team management. Dravid confirmed that Ishan Kishan was not available for the selection which was the decision made by the player.
He also suggested that the player will return to domestic cricket when ready. “No, absolutely not (disciplinary issue). Ishan Kishan was not available for selection. Ishan requested for a break, which we agreed on in South Africa. We supported it.”
“He has not yet made himself available. I don’t think he has made himself available as yet. When he is available, he will play domestic cricket and make himself available for selection,” said Dravid.
Rahul Dravid addressed the case of Shreyas Iyer, stating that his exclusion from the team was not due to any disciplinary reasons. It was a matter of competition within the squad, with many batters available for limited spots.
Iyer was also not part of the T20Is in India’s South Africa 2023-24 and simply missed out on selection due to the abundance of batting players available.
“Certainly, in Shreyas Iyer’s case, there is absolutely no disciplinary reason for his non-inclusion. It’s just that he missed out. There were a lot of batters in the team.”
“Shreyas missed out, he didn’t play the T20Is in South Africa if you noticed. There are a lot of batters and it’s not easy to fit everyone. So, absolutely, there are no disciplinary reasons at all. At least I didn’t discuss such things with the selectors,” Rahul Dravid added.
