'It was completely on gut...': Suryakumar Yadav on selecting Ishan Kishan over Jitesh Sharma
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'It was completely on gut...': Suryakumar Yadav on selecting Ishan Kishan over Jitesh Sharma")
India's Ishan Kishan celebrates with captain Suryakumar Yadav Photograph: (AFP)
After being picked ahead of Jitesh Sharma for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, Ishan Kishan delivered strong performances, scoring 317 runs in nine matches.
After being out of the team for more than two years, Ishan Kishan made a strong comeback to the India squad following his impressive performances for Jharkhand in the 2025 edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The 27-year-old wicketkeeper-batter was selected ahead of Jitesh Sharma for the five-match T20I series against New Zealand in Jan 2026 and also for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. Many people were surprised by this choice because Jitesh had been part of India’s title-winning team in the Asia Cup the previous year. However, India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav said the decision was on his gut feeling.
In an interview with Press Trust of India (PTI), Surya said it was a difficult call because Jitesh had been with the team for about a year and a half and had been playing regularly. He admitted he felt bad about leaving him out.
“It (Ishan’s selection) was completely on gut and a little bit on data as well because it was very harsh on Jitesh Sharma at that time because he was with the team for the last 1-1.5 years and he was playing as well. It’s not like he was not playing. If he was not playing, the story would have been different. I was very sad when we had to pick Ishan over Jitesh. But then if we had to bring some firepower in the top, if we had to do the openers left-right or if we had to pick the top two wicketkeepers, someone had to miss out," Surya said.
Surya also shared that he personally called Ishan and asked him if he could help India win the World Cup and Ishan replied that Surya should trust him and the captain agreed. Surya later said that Ishan’s performances proved that the decision was right.
“So, I just called him (Ishan) and asked, “will you win the World Cup?, so he just replied, ‘just trust me.’ I said, "okay, I trust you, and the way he played – it was amazing," he added.
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According to Surya, he always believed Ishan could bring something special to the team. After being dropped earlier, Ishan returned home, thought about what went wrong and worked hard in domestic cricket. He played practice matches across India, performed well in domestic tournaments and the IPL and eventually earned his place back in the team.
“I mean, the way he started from the bilaterals (five-match T20I series against New Zealand), I always knew that he was bringing an X-factor to the side because he had no baggage. When he went out of the team 1-1.5 years ago, he went back home; I think he must have sat, analysed what had happened to him, and gone on to play domestic cricket. He told me his entire journey, where all he went to play; he played practice matches in every corner of India. And then the way he played domestic cricket, he performed in the IPL; I think he deserved that spot completely," Surya said.
