Shiridi (Maharashtra), July 18: Wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan turned 26 on Thursday. To seek blessings of Sai Baba on his birthday, Kishan visited Shree Samadhi Mandir, here. He even shared glimpses of his visit.
Though wishes and messages continued to pour in for Kishan, but he might not have forgotten the tough situations he has been through in recent times.
Kishan was snubbed from the BCCI central contract list and did not have a good IPL season too. Though he was part of India's ODI World Cup 2023 squad, but eventually lost his place in the national side
However, many former cricketers and Kishan's fans are optimistic that he will soon earn a Team India recall and will be considered for the BCCI central contract next season.
Former Team India star Yuvraj Singh took to Instagram to wish Kishan a happy birthday and expressed eagerness to see the southpaw return to action soon.
It can be recalled that earlier Kishan was omitted from the BCCI’s central contracts along with Shreyas Iyer. Despite not playing for the national team, Kishan did not participate in Ranji Trophy matches. He was part of the Indian squad for the South Africa Test series but withdrew citing personal reasons. His last T20I for India was in November last year. He even opted out of Ranji matches for Jharkhand.
Following his exclusion from the contract list, Kishan returned to competitive cricket by representing the Reserve Bank of India in the 18th DY Patil T20 Cup 2024. He later played for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2024 season, scoring 320 runs in 14 matches with an average of 22.86 and a strike rate of 148.84.
The IPL performance in 2024 season again reflected that he is not in form, or was not at his usual best . Because in white ball format, Kishan has enviable records. He holds the record for the fastest ODI double century and has played many memorable knocks in the India jersey.
Ishan Kisha's fans and well wishers would definitely be keen to see him back at his best and play for Team India again.
