The 27-year-old Ishan Kishan could replace injured Rishabh Pant in India’s squad for the fifth test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
The southpaw was ruled out of the tour due to a toe fracture after sustaining an injury in the right foot whilst trying to reverse sweep a delivery by Chris Woakes on the opening day of the Old Trafford game.
Meanwhile Dhruv Jurel will replace behind the stumps for the Manchester test, but he would be unable to bat as the ICC rules do not permit a substitue barring for situations when a player faces concussion.
Jurel would probably walk into the Xl for the final match at the Oval, but the team would still have Ishan as a cover for the Rajasthan Royals.
“The selection committee will add Ishan Kishan to the squad ahead of the fifth Test as Pant won’t be part of the final Test match, which will be played from July 31 to August 4 at The Oval,” said a report.
He last represented India in a T20I against Australia in November 2023. He was part of the national team squad in the ODI World Cup 2023 but was dropped out of the BCCI’s central contract after failing to turn up for Jharkhand in certain domestice matches in early 2024.
Since then he has been out of favourites for national team set up failing to grab a spot back in the contracts for 2025 season. However, he has been regular in India A setup off late, playing a key role in the shadow tours.
The 27 year old has played two tests, aggregating 78 runs with the help of a solitary half century. Both these matches were held in West Indies in 2023.
However, he has played 60 FC games, recording 3611 runs at a strike rate of 38.82 and 69.37 respectively. He has 19 half centuries and eight tons to his name in red-ball cricket.
He also has a short stint at Northamptonshire, recording scores of 87 and 77 in the County Cricket Division One last month. It seems like he has adapted to the conditions and could be a like-to-like replacement for Pant to bring in the left-handed element in India’s middle-order.
