Former South African captain AB de Villiers has spoken out on the Ishan Kishan story ahead of the third Test between India and England in Rajkot, which begins on February 15.
The renowned Proteas hitter admitted that it was difficult for him to manage his career with so much cricket in the present day, particularly with the rise of T20 leagues throughout the world.
De Villiers described it as a human reaction in which players opt to take a vacation, but emphasized that Test cricket remains the pinnacle of the game. The 39-year-old stated on his YouTube channel:
“Very interesting scenario there in India and I’ve been through this quite a bit throughout my career as well. It’s 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.”
AB de Villiers
De Villiers added:
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’s 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.”
AB de Villiers
Ishan Kishan pulled out from the Indian Test team before the twin Test series in South Africa, last year. The team dropped this wicketkeeper-batter for the initial two England Tests. Then, he didn’t secure a spot for the last trio of Tests.
“What needs to happen is proper communication” – AB de Villiers on Ishan Kishan saga
AB de Villiers also stated that effective and consistent communication with selectors and team management is critical to controlling a player’s career.
The comments came after Team India head coach Rahul Dravid stated that Kishan must play some sort of cricket before making his Test comeback. Kishan, on the other hand, was spotted in Baroda training with new Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya and Lucknow Super Giants deputy Krunal Pandya ahead of the forthcoming Indian Premier League season.
De Villiers said:
“So, whether Ishan is doing it wrong or other players are doing it right or wrong, I don’t know but what needs to happen is proper communication. So, the players know exactly what, not only proper communication but proper and regular 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.”
AB de Villiers
The cricketer-turned-commentator continued:
“It’s 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.”
AB de Villiers
According to rumors, Ishan Kishan will next play for MI in the 2024 IPL season.