“Run banaate rehna hai aur jeette rehna hai (Have to keep scoring runs and keep winning).” Those were Ishan Kishan’s words after his arrival in Patna last week, following India’s triumphant T20 World Cup campaign.
Finishing as India’s second-highest run-getter in the T20 showpiece has certainly made the left-handed keeper-batter a vital component of the team’s future plans, particularly in the shortest format. If he finds success in the IPL (in Sunrisers Hyderabad colours) too, it will further strengthen his position.
The talk regarding Ishan’s scope of making a comeback in India’s ODI squad may gain further momentum. Of course, there’s still a fair amount of time remaining for the ODI World Cup to be held in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe next year, but the team management and the selectors will be keeping a close watch on the one-dayers India will be playing leading into the quadrennial showpiece.
Unless Ishan goes on to have a disastrous IPL or sustains a severe injury, he should be in contention to feature in at least a few of the upcoming ODIs. Within a fortnight after the IPL concludes, India play the first of their three ODIs against Afghanistan on June 14 in Dharamsala. It won’t be surprising if Ishan finds a place in the squad, even if as a specialist batter.
Obviously, if Sanju Samson, too, continues to mint runs in the IPL, like he did in the T20 World Cup, Ishan will have to compete with him as well for a place in the one-day squad. But according to insiders in the BCCI, Ishan, at present, is “ahead of both Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel” at least in terms of selection in the squad for the 50-over format.
Given KL Rahul’s superlative performances since last year’s Champions Trophy, he’s still India’s No.1 choice as wicketkeeper-batsman in ODI cricket. “KL will continue to start (in the coming ODIs). However, this year’s IPL form will also count on who gets the first chance,” one Board insider said.
“The No. 3 slot in the batting order appears to be (ideal) position for Ishan. But it all depends on the team management’s requirements,” former Jharkhand batsman and ex-coach of their U-23 side, Ishank Jaggi, told The Telegraph on Monday.
Unless Virat Kohli makes a sudden decision over his ODI future, he will, in all likelihood, continue as India’s No. 3. However, pressure may build on Shreyas Iyer — who, at No. 4, didn’t have a great series against New Zealand earlier in January — if he struggles in the IPL.
“But first and foremost, Ishan has to keep scoring runs to cement his place in the ODI squad… Doesn’t matter whether he scores tonnes of runs on the off side or not. The runs are all that matter in the end,” Jaggi, with whom Ishan had worked before IPL 2025 to improve his off-side strokeplay, emphasised.
The last time Ishan wore the ODI cap was in the 2023 ODI World Cup clash against Afghanistan in New Delhi on October 11.
“The effort that Ishan has been putting in to improve his off-side play and against off-spin bowling began from last season itself. We worked on those aspects for five-six months,” Jharkhand head coach Ratan Kumar stated.
“At present, his off-side game in particular appears a lot better. We all saw the innings against Pakistan (77 off 41 balls on a sluggish Colombo track), where several of his strokes were on the off side. So, that was a result of the hard work he had put in.
“Besides, his ODI numbers so far (933 runs at an average of 42.40 and a strike rate of 102.19 from 27 games) aren’t bad either, and it includes a double-century (210 versus Bangladesh in December 2022) as well. So, these are things that need to be considered,” the Jharkhand coach stressed.