Ishan Kishan banged on selectors' doors with a superb century in the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) against Haryana. Thanks to his phenomenal knock of 101 runs from just 49 deliveries, Jharkhand went on to post a humongous total of 262/3 on the board after 20 overs. They eventually defended the target the comfortably and won their maiden SMAT title.
Kishan had a stellar campaign overall and finished as the tournament's leading run-getter with 517 runs from 10 games. Following the conclusion of the final, the Jharkhand skipper opened up on his continued snub from Team India. Notably, his last appearance for the Men in Blue came in a T20I against Australia in November, 2023.
Kishan's remarks on repeated India snub
Kishan remarked that he felt quite bad after not being selected for Team India even after performing well on the domestic circuit. However, he didn't let the frustration get to him and thought about doing better on the field so that the selectors take notice of him once again.
“When I was not selected in the Indian team, I felt quite bad because I was doing well. But I told myself that if I am not selected with this sort of performance, then maybe I have to do more. Maybe I have to make my team win. Maybe we have to do well as a unit,” Kishan was quoted as saying by Sportstar.
“It’s important that you don’t allow the frustration to get to you. This is my message to all the youngsters - frustration is something that will take you one step down, but at the same time, you need to put in a lot of hard work and believe in yourself and just focus on what you need to achieve,” he added.
Kishan unlikely to feature in T20 WC
Despite Kishan's heroic performance in the SMAT, he is unlikely to receive a call-up for the Indian team that will participate in the 2026 T20 World Cup. This is largely due to the fact that he hasn't had the taste of international cricket for a little over two years now. However, the 27-year-old isn't quite bothered by this and is rather focused on performing well whenever he gets a chance to play.
“I know you fancy your chances a lot of times. And when you don’t see your name, you just feel bad about it. So, I’m not in that zone anymore. I’m not expecting anything. But my job is to just keep performing," Kishan stated.