Ishan Kishan has opened up about his struggles off the field in the last few months and why he needed a break from the sport in a recent interview.
Kishan's request for a break after the 2023 ODI World Cup citing "mental fatigue" was not approved by the BCCI, following which he withdrew from the South Africa Test series citing "personal reasons".
Kishan wasn't available for any international or domestic cricket since then, before making a comeback in IPL 2024, leading to lots of theories and speculations. Eventually, he was snubbed of a central contract for the 2024-25 season.
Kishan: I was not feeling well
In a candid interview with The Indian Express, the left-handed wicket-keeper-batter revealed that travelling around the world as part of the India team yet finding little game time led him to experience travel fatigue, prompting him to take a break from cricket.
"It meant there was something wrong," Kishan said. "I was not feeling well or right and so I decided to take a break," Kishan said. "Sadly, barring my family and a few close people, no one understood that."
Kishan faced scrutiny for his decision to take a break from cricket. Much of this ire was centred on the 25-year-old batter's decision to skip his domestic team Jharkhand's Ranji Trophy fixtures. "It was depressing. Today, I don't want to say that everything was fine. It was not easy for me at all," he said.
In February, shortly after his decision to take time out of the game, Kishan lost his central contract with India. BCCI secretary Jay Shah said: "If you are fit, then no excuse will be entertained. This applies to all centrally contracted players; they have to play. The player cannot decide his future, the selectors need to decide that."
Kishan: Wasn't in frame of mind to play
Speaking about his refusal to turn out for Jharkhand, Kishan said: "I was not in a frame of mind to play and that is why I took a break from international cricket. It doesn't make sense that you take a break from international cricket and then you go and play domestic matches."
Declaring that he is now "in an excellent frame of mind", Kishan wants to make a return to red-ball cricket and continue to develop as a player. "I am not thinking too much about the future. I want to stay in the present. At this point in time, I am only focused on how to become a better and different player from what I was six months ago," he said. "I want to be part of all three formats."
Kishan returned to cricket for Mumbai Indians in the IPL earlier this year, but his returns were middling. He scored 320 runs in 14 innings, at an average of 22.86 and a strike rate of 148.84, as his side endured a disastrous season, finishing bottom of the table.
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