Rahul Dravid Confirms KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant & Ishan Kishan In Race For T20 World Cup 2024
Rahul Dravid [X.com]
Even though their continuous absence from the scene has raised doubts about their immediate reckoning, head coach Rahul Dravid confirmed that Ishan Kishan and Rishabh Pant are very much in contention for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
While Pant has entered the final leg of his prolonged recovery from a horrific car crash he underwent in December 2022 and is intent on making the IPL 2024 for Delhi Capitals (DC), Kishan also seems likely to return to competitive duties with the Mumbai Indians (MI) only.
A clarity has emerged on Pant's comeback trail, but no such roadmap seems visible with Kishan, who has been undergoing a break from the game since early December when he opted out of the Test series versus South Africa.
Rahul, Pant, Kishan In T20 World Cup Race: Dravid
The player has also since skipped the T20Is against Afghanistan and given Ranji Trophy a miss, which signalled his unavailability for Test selection versus England. However, Kishan will ply his trade for MI.
Having earlier denied suggestions and claims that there is a rift between Kishan and the team management, which is not satisfied with the player's disciplinary breaches, Dravid stressed Kishan is still in contention for the biannual ICC event if he has a strong IPL. Likewise, Pant and all the wicketkeeping options in the race.
"We've got quite a few keeping options. We saw a couple of guys in this series, whether it is Sanju, or Jitesh. You speak about Rahul, there is Ishan, Rishabh... all of them are in the mix. We just have to see how things pan out in the course of next few months and then we can take a call what's the best way to go," Dravid had told press after the third T20I against Afghanistan in Bangalore on January 17.
Kishan's last piece of T20I action for India came in late November when he struck a pair of half-centuries versus Australia while Pant's most recent game in the shortest format goes back to 2022 during the tour of New Zealand. The two players will be eyeing a bumper IPL 2024 to their names.
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