Ishan Kishan reveals reason for taking break, talks losing BCCI central contract

Ishan Kishan, India's wicketkeeper-batter, has addressed his exclusion from the national team and the loss of his central contract for the first time. The 25-year-old last played in November 2023 before taking a break during the South Africa tour. Despite playing in the IPL, he lost his contract after the BCCI directed top players to prioritize domestic cricket when not on national duty.

In an interview with the Indian Express, Ishan expressed his determination to keep giving his best, despite the difficult months. He admitted feeling depressed and questioned why these events happened while he was performing well.

"I don't want to be sad about anything. I'll keep giving my best," he said.

"It was depressing. Today I don't want to say that everything was fine. It was not easy for me at all. You go through a lot. All these things happened when I was performing," he added.

Ishan explained that he took a break due to travel fatigue and mental health concerns, but felt misunderstood by everyone except his family and close friends.

"I was scoring runs and then I found myself on the bench. These things do happen in a team sport. But I experienced travel fatigue. It meant there was something wrong, I was not feeling well or right and so I decided to take a break. However, sadly, barring my family and few close people no one understood that," he said.

He mentioned that returning to domestic cricket felt illogical since he wasn't mentally prepared, even though performing in domestic matches is required for a comeback.

"I took a break and I think it was normal. There is a rule that if you want to make a comeback you must perform in domestic cricket. It is as simple as that. Now, it was very different for me to play domestic cricket as it was not making any sense. 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," he added.