Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul ignored by BCCI for India’s Zimbabwe tour; here’s why

With the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) forced to make three changes in the Indian squad for the T20I series against Zimbabwe, questions have been raised about the future of eight players, including Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul.

Earlier, the BCCI named Harshit Rana, Jitesh Singh and Sai Sudharsan as replacements for the first two matches for Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shivam Dube and Sanju Samson.

The three players were stuck in Barbados due to Hurricane Beryl that struck Barbados on 30 June, after which the Barbados airport was shut down and flights were cancelled.

Looking at the case of Ishan Kishan, he was part of the all-format player for the Indian team until the tour of South Africa in 2023. After the tour, he asked for a break. Though many controversies happened, he appeared for the Mumbai Indians as a wicketkeeper in the Indian Premier League 2024.

Ishan was asked to play Ranji Trophy for Jharkhand and a few other domestic events, but he didn't attention to the BCCI's repeated orders. Following this, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were excluded from the BCCI central contracts.

Another case belongs to seven other players, including KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, who were not selected for the Zimbabwe tour either.

Varun Chakravarthy, Mayank Yadav, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal, etc., were not considered for the bowling department during selection.

Team India for India vs Zimbabwe series:

Coached by former batter and National Cricket Academy head VVS Laxman, the Indian team for India vs Zimbabwe series will be captained by Shubman Gill.

India's squad for T20Is vs Zimbabwe:

Shubman Gill (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Nitish Reddy, Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Tushar Deshpande.

Changes for first two T20Is: Harshit Rana, Sai Sudharsan, Jitesh Sharma