“Whether Ishan Kishan is doing wrong….”: AB de Villiers on young keeper’s absence from international cricket

Former South African batting legend AB de Villiers opened up on Indian wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan’s absence from international cricket following a mental health break, saying he himself has been through this situation and there should be proper communication between a player and team management/board.
De Villiers’ comments come as Ishan continues to remain absent from international cricket, having last played in a T20I match against Australia at home in late November. Following that, he asked team management to release him from the Test squad for the South Africa series happening in December-January due to personal reasons. The 25-year-old was in the T20I squad in South Africa in December 2023 but did not take part in any of the three games. He also did not take part in the ongoing Ranji Trophy.
Following India’s win over England in the second Test, Indian head coach Rahul Dravid said for Kishan to return, he will have to play some cricket.
The India head coach revealed that the wicketkeeper-batter asked for a break, and that’s why the selectors did not include him in the squad for the first two Test matches against England.
He added that it is the player’s choice to decide when he is ready to make a comeback.
“There is a way back for anyone and everyone. It is not that we rule out anybody from anything. I just do not want to go on labouring about the Ishan Kishan point. I have tried to explain it as best as I can. The point was that, you know, he requested a break. We were happy to give him the break and whenever he was ready… I did not say he has to play domestic cricket. I said, whenever he is ready he needs to play some cricket and come back, and the choice is his,” Dravid said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
Speaking on the YouTube channel about the situation, de Villiers said the situation is tricky and players do manage their careers. The former batter also noted that players do run out of energy and one tends to go into a shell, which is natural for any human being.
He also said that he does not know if Kishan is right or wrong, there should be proper management between a player and team management/board.
“Very interesting scenario there in India and I have been through this quite a bit throughout my career as well. It is a very tricky situation. Players trying to manage their careers, and rightfully so, but the difficulty around this is that there are a lot of T20 leagues around the world, IPL, and it’s taking up a lot of attention…of the player’s focus is on that,” said De Villiers.
“Very difficult because the ultimate format of the game is still Test cricket and all Test-playing nations really wanna look after the Test format, so there is a bit of force in all kinds of directions here…
“Guys, you do run out of energy, and once you run out of energy, you tend to go in your defensive mode and into a shell where you look after what you feel is important to you, and that’s a human reaction…
“So, whether Ishan is doing it wrong or other players are doing it right or wrong, I do not know but what needs to happen is proper communication. So, the players know exactly what, not only proper communication but proper and regular communication.”
De Villiers said that he would like to wish all the players the best since it was difficult for him to manage his career towards its end and it needs real and clear communication.
“I just wanna wish all the players the very best because managing the career is something I found extremely difficult in the backend of my career,” said de Villiers.
“It is not an easy thing to manage. It starts with communication, real clear communication between selectors, coaching staff, and the BCCI and the players. People need to know where they stand and that is something expected of them,” he concluded. (ANI)