The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the Test squad for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting February 09 and there were two names that surprised several ardent supporters of Indian cricket. With Rishabh Pant out indefinitely, wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan received his maiden Test call-up while Suryakumar Yadav earned his second call-up to international red-ball cricket.
Kishan recently opened up on his love for Test cricket and also spoke at length about his father's reaction. The Indian cricket board shared a video in which Shubman Gill interviews Kishan on his maiden Test call-up.
"I am very happy. Whenever I was doing well in white-ball cricket my father used to say that Test cricket is the real deal. He says that Test has the real challenges, it tests the skills of batters and it is a big thing to play Test cricket," Kishan said in a video shared by the BCCI.
"I am very happy to make it to the Test team, because people perceive it as the real game. I will try hard to do well.
"I called home and told them the news. My dad was hyped up and told me to work hard like this," he continued.
The swashbuckling southpaw made a resounding statement of his prodigious talent when he smashed the fastest double century in ODI cricket history against Bangladesh to end 2022. The wicketkeeper-batter is likely to replace KL Rahul in India's playing XI for the ODI series against New Zealand.
Speaking about the difference between white-ball and red-ball cricket, Kishan said, “There's a big difference in white and red ball cricket. In white-ball, the ball does not swing that much, but with red-ball, you have to use your brains more and you cannot keep showing off your youngster enthusiasm.”
