Ishan Kishan’s First-Class Cricket stats: Matches, Runs & More

Ishan Kishan is the frontrunner to replace Rishabh Pant in the Indian Test squad for the ongoing five-match series against England. This comes after the unfortunate news of Pant being ruled out of the fourth Test and the series after suffering a fractured right toe.

Pant had to be escorted off the field after sustaining a painful blow in the final session of the opening day while attempting a reverse sweep off a delivery from Chris Woakes. The initial visuals did not look good, along with the wicketkeeper-batter's reaction while being taken off the field.

Ever since the confirmation regarding Pant's unavailability for the fifth Test, there have been multiple reports in the media circulating, which have hinted at a possible inclusion of Ishan Kishan as the injury replacement for his Indian teammate.

Is Kishan any good in First-Class?

As far as Kishan's First-Class record is concerned, he has not played a lot of games like some of his fellow Indian teammates. However, in the 60 matches (100 innings) he has featured in, the 27-year-old has been able to notch up 3,611 runs at a decent strike rate and average of 69.37 and 38.82, respectively.

Kishan recently appeared in the 2025 edition of the County Championship, representing Nottinghamshire while playing First-Class games in the UK for the first time, he starred for his county side. The Jharkhand cricketer shone with the bat with 87 and 77 in his first couple of games. Although he missed out on capitalizing on his starts and registering tons, the manner in which he tackled the alien English conditions came to the fore of the cricket community. It was not as if Kishan's strike-rate took a hit while batting, and was playing in his usual dynamic style.

Why Kishan? Why not Sanju Samson?

What makes Kishan a more suitable candidate than someone like Sanju Samson is his superior wicketkeeping skills too. He has taken 122 catches and inflicted 12 stumpings in his domestic red-ball career so far. He has also showcased his athletic prowess with the gloves time and again, which has only strengthened his case.