Ishan Kishan’s rapid rise in international cricket could possibly earn him a red-ball spot. It is not a shoo-in yet, but there is a possibility that he will be considered for the two Tests in New Zealand in late November. The Selection Committee meeting is expected to take place this week.
With Rishabh Pant, a proven match-winner and a red-ball legend of Indian Test cricket, and Dhruv Jurel also in the equation — both, in fact, featured in India’s last five Tests and did well — a place for a third wicketkeeper-batter in the squad could be seen as an avoidable luxury.
But there seems to be a school of thought among stakeholders, particularly within the team management, that he makes a strong case for a Test recall. He has played only two Tests so far, the last of them more than three years ago, but he has been in red-hot form of late — and that is not just in white-ball cricket.
Leading the East Zone team in the Duleep Trophy, Ishan played a couple of telling knocks in the final — 270 and 80 against South Zone — to guide the side to the title. In three games, he amassed 409 runs at an average of over 100. In the process, he has re-established his red-ball credentials and was rightly named Player of the Match in the final. In white-ball cricket, of course, he has carved out a special place in the Indian team — he is India’s leading run-scorer in T20Is in 2026, with 1,005 runs.
How the national selection committee navigates the situation of three wicketkeepers remains to be seen, but more than likely, a large chunk of the discussion will centre on Ishan when the selectors sit down to pick the squad for the New Zealand tour. There is a line of thinking that his performance in the Duleep Trophy is too good to be ignored. In any case, Ishan is known to play as a specialist batter rather than a wicketkeeper-batter even in white-ball internationals.
As previously reported by Cricbuzz, Akash Deep is widely seen as a vital bowler in New Zealand conditions for the two Tests, while Mukesh Kumar, who bowled Rest of India to victory in the just-concluded Irani Cup, is also in the fray. The Bengal seamer had a good Duleep Trophy campaign too for East, claiming 12 wickets in three games.
What is more, it is learnt that Harshit Rana has also started bowling at the Centre of Excellence (CoE), although his exact fitness status is still unclear. With Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Gurnoor Brar looking certain, and Prasidh Krishna’s situation also improving, there seems to be plenty of choice before the selectors — not just in the wicketkeeping department, but also in pace bowling. Among others, most of the players selected for last year’s tour of England under Shubman Gill will be in the fray, unless unavailable due to injury.
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