Back in the BCCI’s scheme of things, young wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan has been entrusted with the captaincy duties on his return to the Jharkhand Ranji Trophy side, after missing the 2023-24 season, and last leading the side in 2018-19.

Kishan will take over from Virat Singh, who has been named as the vice-captain, after he led the side in the previous season though Saurabh Tiwary captained in their last match, after which he retired.

Kishan recently turned out for Rest of India (ROI) against Mumbai in the Irani Cup, and scored 38 in his only innings. He didn’t keep wicket, with Dhruv Jurel donning the big gloves. With Kumar Kushagra already in the side as the designated stumper, Kishan is likely to retain a similar role for Jharkhand.

Prior to the Irani Cup, Kishan had played two matches for India C in the Duleep Trophy, which marked his return to domestic first-class cricket after December 2022.

During this period, Kishan was stripped of his BCCI central contract – along with Shreyas Iyer – with a BCCI statement reiterating its recent stance that “all athletes give precedence to participating in domestic cricket during periods when they are not representing the national team”.

Placed in Elite Group D, Jharkhand will begin their 2024-25 season with a game against Assam in Guwahati. Last season, Jharkhand had finished third from bottom out of eight teams in Group A after winning two, losing two and drawing three of their seven games.

“Ishan is an experienced player and he has international experience. We have picked a very young team. Saurabh Tiwary, Shahbaz Nadeem and Varun Aaron had all retired after last season so we had to rethink our strategy. Ishan is capable of leading this young side and we’re confident of doing well this Ranji season,” said Subroto Das, chairman of Jharkhand’s selection committee.

Jharkhand squad for Ranji Trophy (first two matches): Ishan Kishan (capt), Virat Singh (vice-capt), Kumar Kushagra (wk), Nazim Siddique, Aryaman Sen, Sharandeep Singh, Kumar Suraj, Anukul Roy, Utkarsh Singh, Supriyo Chakraborty, Saurabh Shekhar, Vikas Kumar, Vivekanand Tiwary, Manishi, Ravi Kumar Yadav, Raunak Kumar