Young Indian batter Ishan Kishan withdrew from the IND vs SA Test series on Sunday, starting from December 26 onwards. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had not revealed the reason behind Kishan’s request and stated that the cricketer withdrew his name citing personal reasons.
However, it has now been reported that the 25-year-old opted out of the South Africa Tests due to mental fatigue as he has been traveling with the team regularly for the last 12 months.
According to Indian Express, Kishan informed the team management that he is having mental fatigue and requested for a break from cricket.
More travel, less games for Kishan
Notably, Kishan had been part of Indian squad for all three formats since January. He was part of Sri Lanka T20I and ODI series (January 3-15) followed by New Zealand limited overs series at home.
He was included in the Indian Test squad for the 4-match Test series at home from February 9 to March 22 but warmed the bench in all four games.
The young wicketkeeper-batter then represented Mumbai Indians in IPL till May before flying to England for the World Test Championship final where he again sat on the bench.
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Kishan then travelled with squad for the West Indies tour from July 12 to August 13. He played one Test, along with three ODIs and three T20Is.
A week later, he was sent to the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka (September 22-27), followed by a three-ODI series at home against Australia and the World Cup.
Having initially stepped onto the field for the first two games of the ODI World Cup in the absence of Shubman Gill and KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan returned to the bench upon their return.
He then played the first three games of the IND vs AUS T20I series before getting rested for final two games.
However, in the South Africa series, despite being a part of the T20I squad, Ishan Kishan found himself on the sidelines as the team management preferred Jitesh Sharma over him.
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