Ishan Kishan had his work cut out on the first day of India’s practice session at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha Nagpur on the practices pitches just outside the main ground and under the watchful eyes of the batting coach Vikram Rathour. the 24-year-old had his trial by spin.

With Rishabh Pant out of action for at least 18 months, India does not have their Gabba hero for two years on. From 2021 to 2013 a lot has changed, yet certain things seem to have remained the same. Ishan Kishan, Filling in the Pant void has been one of the major talking points leading up to the series even if it may be a myopic view to only look at what Pant brings to the table with regards to changing the complexion of the game in just over an hour with his sheer audacity.

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Suryakumar Yadav might play a cameo on the spinning track, Ishan Kishan on the trump

The larger question team India will be asking is how to replace Pant the wicketkeeper. Back to Ishan Kishan, and after his stellar 200-run knock against Bangladesh in the ODIs, the former Under-19 skipper has blown hot and cold – more cold than hot in terms of his batting and a few drops in the recently concluded New Zealand series did not inspire much confidence behind the stumps as well.

At the Jamtha, as India’s opening pair – in all likelihood KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma –  has the first crack at the practice session with Mohammad Shami and Mohammad Siraj bowling in tandem, followed by Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav at the centre wicket – Ishan Kishan was toiling away against a host of net bowlers – predominately spinners which included Jayant Yadav, Washington Sundar, Saurabh Kumar, Rahul Chahar and few local bowlers. Ishan Kishan had an extended session with regular inputs from Rathore.