Why is Ishan Kishan not picked up for upcoming home series against West Indies?

Rishabh Pant is unavailable for the India vs West Indies Test series for injury reasons, so Dhruv Jurel and Narayan Jagadeesan are named in the squad. Jurel is expected to be the main keeper for the series, with Jagadeesan as the second option. But why did the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee not consider Ishant Kishan for the assignment? The head of the selection committee, Agarkar, explained why Ishan Kishan is not in the squad. 

Ishan Kishan has so far played only 2 Test matches after making his debut in July 2023 against the West Indies. The keeper-batter started his international career in a promising way but soon started to lose momentum. Things got worse when he pulled himself out from the 2023-24 South Africa tour. As a reason, the top-order batter cited his mental health. Later, he was dropped from BCCI's central contract. The board asked every player to participate in domestic matches, but Ishan dared to go against the directive as well. He remained out of cricket for a while and took some time to regain his rhythm with the bat. The southpaw played some promising knocks in IPL 2025 for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), but in an inconsistent manner.

Ahead of the India vs West Indies Test series, Indian cricket fans were curious to know whether BCCI could select Kishan for the series. Now, the answer is clear: no room for Ishan Kishan. Agarkar strongly said that the keeper-batter needs to prove himself first. It is clear that the board is not happy at all with the cricketer at all. 

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Why Ishan Kishan is not in India squad for West Indies Test series?

"When we picked India A, Ishan Kishan wasn't fit. Jagadeesan was part of the squad when Ishan wasn't fit. Ishan will have to play a bit more cricket and show some performances," Agarkar said. 

India squad for West Indies Tests:

Shubman Gill (captain), Ravindra Jadeja (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, and Narayan Jagadeesan.