One of the finest wicket-keeper batters in the Indian team, Ishan Kishan has had a tumultuous time over the past 6 months, which saw him losing his place in the Indian team across all three formats, as well as a place in the BCCI central contract. Ishan sought a break from India’s tour of South Africa in December last year over mental fatigue, and has since not returned to the fold. Though he played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 with the Mumbai Indians, he wasn’t picked for the recent Zimbabwe tour.
In a chat with the Indian Express, Ishan opened up his absence from the Indian team, central contract snub and the plan he has put in place to make his way into the national team.
When asked about the axe from the Indian team and the central contract snub, Ishan said: “I don’t want to be sad about anything. I’ll keep giving my best.”
The wicket-keeper batter admitted that the last few months were depressing, and what happened also mde him wonder why all this was to happen with him.
“It was depressing. Today I don’t want to say that everything was fine. It was not easy for me at all. You go through a lot. Mere dimag mey ye sab chalta raha ki yaar kya hoga gaya, kyu ho gaya, mere saath kyu (Questions like what happened, why me). All these things happened when I was performing,” he said.
Ishan was asked about the reason behind his break, and he revealed that it was mainly travel fatigue but he didn’t feel all was well inside his head. He also said that, sadly, no one else barring his family and a few close friends understood his stance.
“I was scoring runs and then I found myself on the bench. These things do happen in a team sport. But I experienced travel fatigue. It meant there was something wrong, I was not feeling well or right and so I decided to take a break. However, sadly, barring my family and few close people no one understood that.
“I took a break and I think it was normal. There is a rule that if you want to make a comeback you must perform in domestic cricket. It is as simple as that. Now, it was very different for me to play domestic cricket as it was not making any sense. I was not in a frame of mind to play and that is why I took a break from international cricket. It doesn’t make sense that you take a break from international cricket and then you go and play domestic matches. Fir toh aap international hi khelte (Then I could have continued playing for India),” he asserted.
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