Dravid clarified that during the South Africa tour, Kishan requested a break due to mental fatigue, which the team management approved. He noted that Kishan has not made himself available for selection since then and will return to domestic cricket when he feels prepared.
“No, absolutely not (disciplinary issue). Ishan Kishan was not available for selection. Ishan requested a break, which we agreed on in South Africa. We supported it,” Dravid told the reporters ahead of the first T20I.
Yet, Kishan might have sensed a degree of marginalization after participating in only two ODIs and three T20Is between October last year and January, while India played a combined total of 14 ODIs and eight T20Is during this timeframe.
In ODIs, KL Rahul was preferred over him for the wicketkeeper-batsman’s slot, while in T20Is the management opted to give Jitesh Sharma a go from the fourth T20I at home against the Aussies.
However, Dravid did not rule Kishan out of the India scheme of things.
“He 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 Dravid.
Likewise, Iyer’s omission from the T20I series against Afghanistan fueled speculations of player indiscipline, but Dravid dismissed the rumors.
“Shreyas Iyer’s 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 captain.
Dravid said it was tough to accommodate all the players into the squad or the first eleven.
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“It 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 Dravid.
However, Shreyas will play for Mumbai in their Ranji Trophy match against Andhra from Friday, and PTI understands that the elegant right-hander will be a part of India squad for the five-match Test series at home against England beginning later this month.
(With PTI Inputs)