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Former Pakistani batter Basit Ali believes Team India's Ishan Kishan should concentrate on next year's Indian Premier League (IPL) season to get back in the reckoning of national selectors. He opined that the wicketkeeper-batter is unlikely to make a comeback into the Indian side until the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Kishan returned home midway through India's South Africa tour in December 2023 and has since not been picked for the Indian team. The southpaw is currently captaining Jharkhand in the ongoing Buchi Babu Trophy.
Speaking in his latest YouTube video, here's what Basit said about Kishan's chances of returning to the Indian side (from 1:58):
"Ishan Kishan needs to focus on the IPL now because he doesn't have a chance of returning to the Indian team till the Australia series. In fact, there's no chance till the Champions Trophy. Let's see what happens after that."
Ishan Kishan shone with the bat in Jharkhand's opening match of the Buchi Babu Trophy against Madhya Pradesh. The swashbuckling batter notched up an 86-ball century in the first innings, finishing with 114 runs off 107 balls. He remained unbeaten on 41 in the second innings as Jharkhand completed a two-wicket win.
"India will miss Cheteshwar Pujara" - Basit Ali on upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy
India and Australia will lock horns in a five-match Test series later this year. The matches will be played Down Under, with the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy on the line.
Basit Ali suggested that even if India managed to win the Test series, they would still miss veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara's resilience. He said in the same video (from 10:19):
"Be it 5-0, 4-1, 3-2, or 2-2, India will miss Cheteshwar Pujara. He is that player who can tire the bowlers and create a chance for the other batter at the other end to score runs."
It is worth mentioning that Pujara was one of the key architects in India's 2-1 series win during the 2021-22 Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Australian soil. The veteran batter was the second-highest run-getter for the visitors, amassing 271 runs across eight innings.
Pujara lost his place in India's Test team following the 2023 World Test Championship final against Australia, where he registered scores of 14 and 27. The 36-year-old not finding a place in any of the four squads for the upcoming Duleep Trophy could indicate he may not be in the selectors' plans for India's upcoming Test assignments.
