India vs South Africa: Ishan Kishan, India's star wicketkeeper-batter recently opted out of the Test series against South Africa due to personal reasons.
Kishan was last seen in action in the five-match T20I series against Australia at home which the hosts went on to win by 4-1.
He was picked in the T20I and Test series for the South Africa tour but wasn't part of the ODI team.
According to a report on Indian Express, Ishan decided to opt out of the series due to mental fatigue as he took a short break from the game.
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Kishan has been a part of the Indian setup across formats for a while now and has been traveling with the team despite not getting consistent chances to be in action due to team combination.
He was also part of India's ODI World Cup squad but only played the first two matches when Shubman Gill was unavailable due to illness.
The report has also suggested that he requested the team management to get a break from cricket for some time.
"He informed the team management that he is having mental fatigue and wants a break from cricket for some time. Everyone agreed to it," the report quoted a source as saying.
Earlier, the 25-year-old Kishan cited personal reasons to skip the two-matches Test series which is going to be part of the World Test Championship.
The All India Selection Committee named KS Bharat as his replacement for the crucial series.
“Mr Ishan Kishan has requested the BCCI to be released from the upcoming Test series against South Africa citing personal reasons. The wicket-keeper has subsequently been withdrawn from the Test squad,” the BCCI stated in the press release.
Ishan Kishan made his Test debut earlier this year on the West Indies tour where he played both Test matches and scored a half-century in the second.
He didn’t get a chance to feature in the T20I series and was not picked for the ODI squad.
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The two-match Test series between India and South Africa will begin on Tuesday, December 26 with the first Test scheduled to be played at the SuperSport Park in Centurion.
The second match will commence on January 3, 2024, in Cape Town.
The three-match T20I series ended with a result of 1-1 followed by India's 2-1 in the ODI series as they will now be eyeing their first-ever Test series victory on South African soil.
India’s squad for Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (wk).