India wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan, who faced criticism for skipping Ranji Trophy matches, made a low-key return to competitive cricket on Tuesday, scoring just 19 runs in the DY Patil T20 Cup in Navi Mumbai.
Playing for RBI on the second day of the tournament, the 25-year-old Patna-born cricketer stumped Sumit Dhekale off seamer Sayan Mondal and later scored 19 off 12 balls with two boundaries and a six, as his team suffered an 89-run loss to Route Mobile Limited.
Batting first, Route posted 192 for 8 in their 20 overs thanks to Aayush Vartan's 54 off 31 balls and Dhekale's 42 at the DY Patil University Ground.
In response, RBI were shot out for just 103 in 16.3 overs. For Route, the best bowler was Badrey Alam (5/20).
Kishan, who plays for Mumbai Indians in the IPL, last played for India during the T20 series against Australia at home in November last year.
He then decided to take a break midway into India's Tour of South Africa and was ignored for the home rubber against Afghanistan and the ongoing five-Test series against England.
Kishan, who plays domestic cricket for Jharkhand, had skipped the final round matches of the Ranji Trophy and was seen training with India all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who also returned to action at the DY Patil tournament after a long injury layoff, on Monday.
Kishan's reluctance to play first-class cricket and focus only on the IPL was one of the reasons behind BCCI's decision to make a minimum number of Ranji Trophy games mandatory for players in order to be eligible for the cash-rich league's auction pool.
