After withdrawing from the 2023 South Africa tour due to mental fatigue, he was dropped from all formats and lost his BCCI Central Contract for skipping domestic cricket.
Despite rumors about his commitment and "attitude," he stayed quiet, moved back to Jharkhand, and focused on a spiritual and mental reset (reading the Bhagavad Gita).
He didn't wait for an IPL miracle; he earned his way back through the domestic grind, playing everything from the Buchi Babu Trophy to the Ranji Trophy.
As Captain, he led Jharkhand to their first-ever SMAT title, finishing as the tournament’s highest run-scorer with 517 runs and a strike rate near 200.
He smashed a 49-ball century in the SMAT final, becoming the first captain to score a hundred in the tournament's finale—making it impossible for selectors to ignore him.
His maturity and explosive left-handed batting earned him a spot in the 2026 T20 World Cup squad, replacing Shubman Gill to provide India with more "intent" at the top.