Want to play for India but not burdening myself with additional pressure, says Ishan Kishan

There is little clarity over where Ishan Kishan stands as far as his chances in the national team are concerned. The youngster from Jharkhand has definitely fallen down the pecking order in recent times although he continues to be a regular feature in the India A fixtures. The selectors have made it clear that they have Kishan in their plans by giving him regular opportunities to play for India A and it is now up to the youngster to make those chances count.

Rishabh Pant is now well ahead of Kishan in the pecking order. In fact, it would not be very wrong to say that Pant is now the first-choice wicketkeeper in all the formats. Pant has pretty much sealed his place in the Test team while the team-management is also giving him an extended run in the limited-overs format too. On the other hand, Kishan is still waiting for his first call-up from the senior team.

However, the young left-hand wicketkeeper-batsman is not looking far ahead in terms of a national team call-up. Kishan is looking to put together consistent performances in the domestic circuit in to make the cut into the senior team. Kishan is currently plying his trade for India A in the ongoing one-day series against South Africa A. Prior to that, he had also traveled to the Caribbeans for the series against West Indies A.

“I think it is obviously there in the back of the mind (the talk) that I have to be there in the senior team. Any youngster would want to represent the country. But at the same time, I want to focus on my process. I need to get better day-by-day. If I think a lot about senior team selection, I will only be burdening myself with additional pressure,” Kishan was quoted as saying by Times of India in an interview.

“So what I do is to keep the process going. I need to work on my consistency. When I play domestic matches or for India ‘A’, I have to keep on performing well and obviously then the selectors will pick you (to the national squad),” he added,

Kishan impresses

Ishan Kishan, meanwhile, had a good outing against South Africa A. After failing to do well against West Indies A, the southpaw has finally started scoring runs. His scores in the first three games read 37, 55 and 40. That 55-run knock came off just 24 balls as he helped India A register a thrilling 2-wicket win in a rain-curtailed match which was reduced to a 21 overs per-side contest.

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