New Delhi: Over the last few days, there has been a lot of chatter around various reasons behind wicket keeper-batter Ishan Kishan’s decision to opt out of playing for East Zone in the upcoming Duleep Trophy, set to start from June 28 in Bengaluru.
But it has now emerged that Kishan opted out of Duleep Trophy as he is heading to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for training ahead of the all-format West Indies tour, set to start from July 12.
“Ishan is not skipping the Duleep Trophy (due to other reasons). Instead, he is heading to the NCA to train there either from Monday or Tuesday, as he will most likely go on the West Indies tour,” a source privy to the development told IANS.
For the uninitiated, Kishan, India’s captain in their runners-up finish in 2016 Men’s U19 World Cup, has been literally on the road since the start of 2023. He featured in all three T20Is against Sri Lanka in the start of the year, before being included for the ODIs against the same opposition, though he didn’t get a game.
With KL Rahul unavailable for ODIs against New Zealand, Kishan played all three matches, followed by featuring in all three T20Is against the same opposition. He was also the second wicketkeeping option in India’s squad for the Border Gavaskar Trophy in February-March, followed by playing one match in the ODI series against Australia.
Once the international commitments were over, Kishan featured in all 16 matches for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2023, right from league stage to Qualifier 2. With Rahul out of the recent World Test Championship Final due to a right thigh injury needing surgery, Kishan was named as his replacement in India’s squad and flew to London once Mumbai’s campaign in IPL 2023 was over.
Though Kishan has got some breather from the hectic cricketing schedule, he will now be on his way to the NCA for training ahead of the all-format tour of the Caribbean, for which the Indian team could depart in the early days of July.
India’s tour of the West Indies is set to take place from July 12 to August 13, comprising two Tests, three ODIs and five T20Is. Windsor Park in Dominica will host the first Test match from July 12-16, followed by the second Test to be played from July 20-24 at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad.
The second Test at Trinidad will also mark the 100th Test match played between India and West Indies. Both Tests will kickstart India’s journey in the 2023-2025 ICC World Test Championship cycle.
It is followed by a three-game ODI series, with the first two matches to happen at Kensington Oval in Barbados July 27 and 29. The third ODI will happen August 1 at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad, who will be hosting a West Indies men’s ODI for the first time.
The T20I series will commence at Brian Lara Cricket Academy August 3, followed by second and third T20Is at the Guyana National Stadium August 6 and 8. The series will end at Lauderhill, Florida, USA with the fourth and fifth T20Is August 12 and 13 to be hosted by Broward County Cricket Stadium.
India last toured West Indies for an all-format tour in 2019, winning series in all formats. They also made a white-ball only trip last year, emerging victorious in both ODI and T20I series.