Former India opener Aakash Chopra believes Ishan Kishan will go all out to have a good IPL 2024, amidst his tough time in the game.
The young wicketkeeper-batter recently saw his BCCI central contract get cancelled after his refusal to play in domestic cricket.
Kishan has been long absent from cricket since December, after having opted out of India’s Test series against South Africa citing personal reasons. Kishan had reportedly asked for a break from the Indian team management as he wanted to return home to recover from mental fatigue, which received support from both the team management and selectors.
With luck clearly not on his side, the situation got worse for the batter after BCCI excluded Kishan from their annual retention contract list for 2023-2024, released on February 28. With no other cricket involvement since December 2023, Aakash Chopra believes that Ishan Kishan will look to script his comeback into form in the upcoming IPL.
“Ishan Kishan will be hungry, as he has not got a central contract. This is the only thing he is playing. What else is he playing?” Chopra said in his YouTube video.
Talking about his absence from the England series and then his alleged reluctance to play domestic cricket, Chopra believes Kisshan should make full of his chance of revival in IPL 2024.
“Either he has himself opted not to play, or he won’t be selected now. So this is his chance. If you make the IPL your own, you have chances of going forward. Then there is, of course, Wankhede’s flat pitch. The ball will come nicely onto the bat and go far,” Chopra added.
In his last 10 T20I innings, Kishan has only managed a total of 170 runs. In his last 7 ODI innings, he scored only 15 runs. Across his two Test games, he has accumulated 78 runs.
However, Kishan had a decent time during IPL 2023, where he bagged 454 runs in his 16 matches.
The upcoming IPL season will be crucial for Kishan, as it will see him striving to gear back in form and reclaim his national team contention.