CHENNAI: When Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were named in the squad for the three T20Is against Afghanistan, among the many names that were missing, the notable ones were Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer. The former, for starters, has not returned to cricket after taking a break from the Indian team during the South Africa tour citing personal reasons. He was not a part of the Test squad, nor did he take part in Jharkhand’s first Ranji Trophy match against Saurashtra.
In the last couple of years, Kishan had grown into one of the few all-format players for India, having made his Test debut as a wicketkeeper in the West Indies. He featured in 30 games across formats last year, before the South Africa series.
In his absence, KL Rahul, the first-choice keeper in ODIs, has taken up the role in the longer format and has all but secured the place at least for the foreseeable future. Jitesh Sharma is growing into the role in the shortest format and Sanju Samson has been added to the T20I squad after his century against South Africa in the ODI series. Kishan, on the other hand, last played for India in the T20I against Australia on November 28.
Meanwhile, the case of Shreyas is even more interesting. While he has been a regular in Tests and ODIs for a while, that is not the same in T20Is. Despite having a good year in 2022, the Mumbaikar played only two T20Is last year. And with his name not on the list for the three T20Is, he is all set to turn up for his state side in the next Ranji clash against Andhra.
With him being a sure starter for the home Tests against England, this could prove handy for him. However, it also begs the question as to where he stands in the scheme of things for the T20 World Cup. The 29-year-old, in his last two T20I appearances, batted at No. 3. However, with Kohli walking into the playing XI, the spot will not be his. And with the rise of Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube coming back, it is hard to see where Shreyas would have fit into the playing XI in the upcoming series.
At the moment, India’s top six for the first T20I might look something like — Rohit, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku and Jitesh/Samson. Factor in Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya, who will walk in when they are fit and there is no place for Shreyas and Kishan.
Now, a lot of causality and correlation has been made since the squad was named on Sunday. What does not help is that there is no clarity as to why they are not a part of the squad. Dropped? Rested? Workload management? Only selectors will know but they have not addressed a press conference since before the ODI World Cup. There might be answers to a few questions on the eve of the first T20I if captain Rohit or coach Rahul Dravid comes for the presser.
For now, with regards to Shreyas and Kishan being left out, it seems to be one of the many ripple effects of Rohit and Kohli being brought back in the shortest format.