An under-performing and absolutely out-of-form Ishan Kishan has been named a part of the India A squad for the tour to England. The southpaw, who last donned the whites for India in July 2023, has been snubbed from the Test team ever since, owing to him being non-compliant with the BCCI’s directive to play domestic cricket compulsorily. Despite having performed below average in the previous Ranji Trophy season, he has been picked in the India A squad, ahead of other deserving candidates.
Kishan doesn’t need to be part of India A
To begin with, Kishan last played a Test in 2023. His recent form is very worrying – 196 runs in 10 innings in IPL 2025, averaging 24.50. In Ranji Trophy 2024/25, he managed to score just 176 runs in 6 innings, despite being the captain of Jharkhand on most occasions It included just one century. In India A’s tour to Australia in 2024, he only amassed 36 runs from 2 innings.
Barring the Vijay Hazare Trophy, his record in the Irani Cup, Duleep Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy wasn’t really great. All the more reason as to why he should have never been considered for the India A squad.
| Tournament | Innings | Runs |
| IPL 2025 | 10 | 196 |
| Ranji Trophy 2024/25 | 6 | 176 |
| India A tour to Australia | 2 | 36 |
| Vijay Hazare Trophy | 7 | 316 |
| Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy | 6 | 161 |
| Irani Cup | 1 | 38 |
| Duleep Trophy | 4 | 134 |
Who else apart from Kishan?
For starters, the selectors have already picked Dhruv Jurel as the vice-captain for the India A tour to the UK. He is for sure to start ahead of Kishan in the unofficial Tests and the intra-squad game. Next is KS Bharat. The keeper-batter, who was a part of the BCCI central contracts last year, has been left out this time. Yet, he finished as the best keeper in the Ranji Trophy, with 32 dismissals to his name. Besides, he also amassed 502 runs from 13 innings.
Another option could have been Narayan Jagadeesan. The TN keeper-batter managed to score 674 runs in 13 innings along with 23 dismissals. Both these stars deserve a place in the India A squad much ahead of Kishan.
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