Ishan Kishan, struggling for form and consistency, has surprisingly been included in the India A squad for the tour to England. The lefthanded wicketkeeper-batsman has not played Test cricket since July 2023, mainly because he decided against following the BCCI's directive to play domestic cricket. After a poor Ranji Trophy season, his selection to the India A squad must have raised some eyebrows, especially in front of more deserving candidates. Kishan last played a Test in 2023, and his recent numbers do nothing to impress. He smoked 196 runs in 10 IPL 2025 innings at a mere average of 24.50. Ranji Trophy 2024/25 form, if anything, was even worse - 176 runs in 6 innings, despite him leading Jharkhand. This includes just one century. While touring Australia with India A in 2024, he scored just 36 runs across 2 innings. Surprisingly good Vijay Hazare Trophy bouts apart, Kishan just about flattered to deceive in the Irani Cup, Duleep Trophy, and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. On these numbers, one cannot justify the inclusion of Kishan in the India A squad. Tournament Innings Runs IPL 2025 10 196 Ranji Trophy 2024/25 6 176 India A tour to Australia 2 36 Vijay Hazare Trophy 7 316 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 6 161 Irani Cup 1 38 Duleep Trophy 4 134 (Ishan Kishan in the last one year) Who else apart from Kishan? Interestingly, Dhruv Jurel has been named vice-captain for the UK tour and is expected to start ahead of Kishan in both the unofficial Tests and the intra-squad match. On the other hand, Bharat has been left on the sidelines despite having been in the central contracts list last year. He obtained 32 dismissals and 502 runs in 13 innings in the Ranji Trophy, one of the best performances by a keeper. Read also: Digvesh Rathi crosses boundary, triggered Abhishek Sharma after dismissing him Another potent candidate is Narayan Jagadeesan, who 674 runs and 23 dismissals in 13 innings for Tamil Nadu. Both Bharat and Jagadeesan have stronger recent performances and arguably deserve the India A call-up over Kishan.