‘Gave Cricket The Respect It Deserves’: Ashwin Explains How Kishan’s Discipline Secured His Place In India’s T20 World Cup Squad

On December 20, 2025, Ishan Kishan received his call-up for the national team after being out of favour for quite some time. Kishan was long touted to be the next big wicketkeeper for the national team alongside the likes of Sanju Samson. However, for one reason or another, he ended up being pushed down the pecking order, with his last international appearance being against Australia in 2023.

His return has been powered by his dominant performance in the Sayed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The player led his side, Jharkhand, to their maiden SMAT title and finished the campaign with 517 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 197.

While his numbers in the domestic league alone made him a strong contender, Ravichandran Ashwin outlined how the path Ishan Kishan chose to earn back his place in the national team played a huge role in his World Cup call-up.

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Ashwin On Ishan Kishan's Comeback In International Cricket
 

The former Team India ace spinner explained how Kishan's comeback was rightfully earned instead of being gifted. Additionally, Ashwin revealed that the reason why Kishan received a call-up was because of the respect he gave to the sport.

Ashwin shared, "Cricket has given Ishan Kishan a gift. People on the outside can have a guess on whether it was fair, unfair, and all, but life comes back in a circle. The reason Ishan (Kishan) was not on the side, and why he is in the team now, is because of one thing. He gave cricket the respect it deserves."

He further added, "In first class, he even came to play in the Buchi Babu Invitational. A player like Ishan Kishan came in to play the Buchi Babu tournament in Chennai for Jharkhand. From there, he was there for Jharkhand in their preparation for the Ranji Trophy, where he was number one. And in first-class cricket, he came in and scored runs. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he led Jharkhand and even performed well. It is because of this."

Whether or not Kishan will receive the nod to start in the tournament remains to be seen.

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India's T20 World Cup Squad

With the inclusion of Ishan Kishan and Rinku Singh, vice captain Shubman Gill and Jitesh Sharma were dropped from the squad. With Suryakumar Yadav retaining his position as the captain, Axar Patel was named the vice captain of the team.

India T20 World Cup squad: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vice-captain), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ishan Kishan.