Ishan Kishan opted out of Duleep Trophy to train at NCA ahead of West Indies tour

New Delhi: Over the last few days, there has been a lot of chatter around various reasons behind wicket keeper-batter Ishan Kishan's decision to opt out of playing for East Zone in the upcoming Duleep Trophy, set to start from June 28 in Bengaluru.

But it has now emerged that Kishan opted out of Duleep Trophy as he is heading to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for training ahead of the all-format West Indies tour, set to start from July 12.

"Ishan is not skipping the Duleep Trophy (due to other reasons). Instead, he is heading to the NCA to train there either from Monday or Tuesday, as he will most likely go on the West Indies tour," a source privy to the development told IANS.

For the uninitiated, Kishan, India's captain in their runners-up finish in 2016 Men's U19 World Cup, has been literally on the road since the start of 2023. He featured in all three T20Is against Sri Lanka in the start of the year, before being included for the ODIs against the same opposition, though he didn't get a game.

With KL Rahul unavailable for ODIs against New Zealand, Kishan played all three matches, followed by featuring in all three T20Is against the same opposition. He was also the second wicketkeeping option in India's squad for the Border Gavaskar Trophy in February-March, followed by playing one match in the ODI series against Australia.

Once the international commitments were over, Kishan featured in all 16 matches for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2023, right from league stage to Qualifier 2. With Rahul out of the recent World Test Championship Final due to a right thigh injury needing surgery, Kishan was named as his replacement in India's squad and flew to London once Mumbai's campaign in IPL 2023 was over.