Dravid denies indiscipline angle to non-selection of Ishan-Shreyas for AFG T20Is

Categorically denying disciplinary issues as reason behind Ishan Kishans nonselection into IND vs AFG T20I series head coach Rahul Dravid on Wednesday said the lefthander will be back into national fold once he makes himself available for selectionKishan last played for India in the third T20I against Australia at Guwahati on November 28 2023Absolutely not Ishan Kishan was not available for selection Ishan had requested for a break in South Africa which we agreed to and supported that said Dravid in his prematch press meet ahead of the first T20I against AfghanistanHowever Kishan might just have felt a bit sidelined after playing just two ODIs and three T20Is between October last year and this January while India played a total of 14 ODIs and eight T20Is in this periodIn ODIs KL Rahul was preferred over him for the wicketkeeperbatsmans slot while in T20Is the management opted to give Jitesh Sharma a go from the fourth T20I at home against the AussiesHowever Dravid did not rule Kishan out of the India scheme of thingsHe has made himself unavailable for selection I am sure when he is available for selection he will play domestic cricket and comeback So that was the case said DravidAlso ReadCape Townrsquos lsquopitch perilrsquoBut as things stand now the Jharkhand player will have to play out of his skin to return to India tent India do not have any more T20Is in their calendar ahead of the World Cup in June and Kishans only chance to impress the bigwigs is the upcoming IPL 2024But herein too Kishan will have to contend with competition from Rahul as he has expressed his willingness to bat in the middleorder as wicketkeeper batter for Lucknow SupergiantsSimilarly Shreyas Iyers nonselection for the IND vs AFG T20I series too had given fodder to the player indiscipline talks but Dravid denied the rumoursShreyas Iyers case has absolutely nothing to do with any disciplinary issue It is just that he missed out There are a lot of batsmen in the team He did not play in the T20s in the SA as well said the former Indian captainDravid said it was tough to accommodate all the players into the squad or the first elevenIt is unfortunate because he is a fine player but there are a lot of batsmen and it is not easy to fit everyone into the squad or playing 11 No discipline issues were discussed at least during my discussion with the selectors said DravidHowever Shreyas will play for Mumbai in their Ranji Trophy match against Andhra from Friday and PTI understands that the elegant righthander will be a part of India squad for the fivematch Test series at home against England beginning later this monthWith agency inputs