East Zone captain Ishan Kishan hammered a massive 270 runs in the Duleep Trophy 2026 final. He played 334 balls, hitting 30 fours and 7 sixes. Thanks to 270 and Kumar Kushagra’s 101, East Zone posted 708 in their first innings after choosing to bat first.
Thanks to his superlative performance, noise has started about Ishan Kishan’s inclusion in the Indian Test team. With outstanding performances in domestic cricket, he quickly returned to the Indian T20 team and may be considered for a return to the Test squad after his protracted injury. Today we see three reasons why Ishan Kishan isn’t in the Indian Test team.
Here are the 3 reasons why Ishan Kishan doesn’t have a place on the Test team:
3. India has two good keeper-batters already.
India already has two very good keeper-batters in Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel. Pant is irreplaceable as a keeper in red-ball cricket, and Jurel is flourishing as a batter. There might not be a spot for both in the starting lineup at the same time because Kishan is a left-handed wicketkeeper-batter with an attacking style similar to Pant’s. Ishan Kishan faces fierce competition even in this scenario, even though it is possible to play him as the backup wicketkeeper and a pure batter in the starting lineup.
2. Too many left-handers in the Indian lineup
If Ishan Kishan is picked as a pure batter in the Indian Test team, that will only add to the already overcrowded middle order of southpaws. Devdutt Padikkal, Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar all bat left-handed, with Shubman Gill breaking the monotony. Then come Ravindra Jadeja and Manav Suthar, and Kishan will only add to the problem. Everyone named above is scoring runs, and dropping someone for Kishan might not be the right way to go.
1. India’s next Test assignment will be in overseas conditions.
Ishan Kishan has played two Tests for India against the West Indies in 2023. India’s next Test assignment will be in New Zealand, where India has not won a series since 2009-10. Kishan made 270 runs, but on a flat track in Chennai. On the other hand, New Zealand will have seam and swinging conditions and spicy pitches, and it’s questionable whether Kishan is ready to play in conditions where the batters will be challenged.
