Ishan Kishan finally adhered to BCCI's directive nine months after it was issued for the first time earlier this year. Kishan returned to the Jharkhand squad for the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 and that too as their captain.

The dynamic southpaw, who secured his spot in India's limited-overs team following Rishabh Pant's unfortunate road mishap in December 2022, opted for a hiatus during the team's series in South Africa the previous year.

After the break, his absence from any matches sanctioned by the BCCI turned heads, especially since the board has been vocal about the importance of players engaging in domestic cricket when they are not part of the national lineup.

The 26-year-old made a comeback in February, participating in the DY Patil T20 Cup, a non-BCCI event, just before the IPL season. This move ignited discussions on the delicate equilibrium between playing for franchise teams and fulfilling state cricket duties.

His decision to skip domestic play during this interval led to him being left out of the BCCI's central contracts list for the 2023-24 season.

Nonetheless, Kishan managed to regain favour with the BCCI through impressive performances in the domestic circuit, notably hitting a century for India C upon his return in last month's Duleep Trophy.

He also took part in the Irani Cup for the Rest of India team, where he made a 38-run contribution in his sole at-bat.

Kishan at the helm of talented Jharkhand side

Now appointed as the captain of the Jharkhand team, Kishan is poised to lead a youthful squad into the new season, with the previous captain Virat Singh serving as his vice-captain and Kumar Kushagra taking on the role of the wicketkeeper.

Jharkhand is gearing up to kick off their Ranji Trophy journey against Assam in Guwahati, competing in Elite Group D.

"Ishan is an experienced player and he has international experience," chairman of Jharkhand's selection committee Subroto Das was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

"We have picked a very young team. Saurabh Tiwary, Shahbaz Nadeem and Varun Aaron had all retired after last season so we had to rethink our strategy. Ishan is capable of leading this young side and we're confident of doing well this Ranji season."

Jharkhand Squad:

Ishan Kishan (c), Virat Singh (vc), Kumar Kushagra (wk), Nazim Siddique, Aryaman Sen, Sharandeep Singh, Kumar Suraj, Anukul Roy, Utkarsh Singh, Supriyo Chakraborty, Saurabh Shekhar, Vikas Kumar, Vivekanand Tiwary, Manishi, Ravi Kumar Yadav and Raunak Kumar.

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