Ajit Agarkar advises: Focus solely on Rishabh Pant, ignore Ishan Kishan

In the past month, two Indian wicketkeepers have made impressive comebacks in red-ball cricket, each in their own unique way and on different stages. Ishan Kishan stood out by scoring a century in the Buchi Babu pre-season tournament in late August, followed by a similar performance in the second round of the Duleep Trophy. The other wicketkeeper, Rishabh Pant, marked his return with a brilliant 109-run innings against Bangladesh in his first Test match since December 2022, when he had suffered a serious car accident.

With the New Zealand Test series coming up next month, a three-match contest at home, Ajit Agarkar and his committee could be in for a selection headache, especially if Ishan and Jurel, both picked for the Rest of India squad in the Irani Cup match against Mumbai in Lucknow next week, comes up with big knocks.

While there has been a murmur on social media, with fans rooting for an Ishan comeback to the Indian Test squad, former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif, ruled out the possibility and urged the selectors to not have any second thoughts about Pant, as he highlighted his credentials.

"Rishabh Pant wasn't there the last time when England toured India. Pant has been the biggest match-winner for India, coming in at No. 5-6, he has played many match-winning knocks, none bigger than the innings at the Gabba that all remember. He has hit hundreds in tough conditions in South Africa and England also,” Kaif, who played 13 Tests and 125 ODIs for India, told the Times of India.

"So I think Rishabh Pant, stat wise, is best suited to Test cricket, that's his best format. There is no need for the Indian think tank to think of anybody other than Rishabh Pant. His best is yet to come, he is yet to hit his prime when he'll be around 27, his game will become more refined and then he will hit his peak. So Rishabh Pant's best time is yet to come, especially in Test cricket."

Ishan had emerged India's first-choice wicketkeeper last summer after an impressive debut in the tour of West Indies, where he scored a fifty. However, ahead of the following Test series, in South Africa last December, he opted out of the team citing mental health break, and later lost a spot in BCCI's central contract list after disobeying their mandate on participating in domestic cricket when away from national team duty.

Ishan later made a strong return to the traditional format earlier in August, before scoring a century for India C in Duleep Trophy as BCCI's selection committee named him in the Rest of India squad for the Irani Cup match.