Shreyas Iyer, the successful captain of the IPL-winning KKR team under mentor Gambhir, has made a well-deserved return to the national team after being reprimanded by the selection committee for avoiding domestic cricket last season due to a lower back issue. While Iyer is back in the mix and will regain his central contract, Ishan Kishan is reportedly not in consideration for selection at the moment.
Sources suggest that Kishan will need to focus on a full season of domestic cricket to make a comeback, as relying solely on IPL performances may be detrimental to his chances. With Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Sanju Samson designated as the primary keepers in white-ball formats, the competition is tough.
Assam's Riyan Parag and rookie pacer Harshit Rana have been called up for ODIs, with the BCCI emphasising the importance of domestic cricket performances in selection decisions. Harshit's impressive performance in the IPL and Riyan's strong showing in the Vijay Hazare National one-dayers have earned them spots in the squad to broaden the pool of pacers and assess their performance at the international level.
Unfortunately, Abhishek Sharma and Ruturaj Gaikwad have missed out on selection, with the skipper likely to bat at No. 3 in the upcoming matches.