Team India head coach Rahul Dravid revealed the reasons for Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer not being added to the T20I squad for the three-match series against Afghanistan. Ishan Kishan had also made himself unavailable for the Test series against South Africa citing mental fatigue. Dravid, however, shared that the southpaw hasn’t made himself available yet, discarding reports of him being dropped due to disciplinary issues as well.

Speaking to reporters on the eve of the first T20I in Mohali, Rahul Dravid said: “No absolutely not (disciplinary issue). Ishan Kishan was not available for selection. Ishan requested for a break, which we agreed in South Africa. We supported it. He has not yet made himself available. I don’t think he has made himself available as yet. When he is available, he will play domestic cricket and make himself available for selection.”

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However, Shreyas Iyer was named the vice-captain for India’s final two T20Is against Australia. But he didn’t play a single T20I in South Africa and Rahul Dravid said that it is just the competition among pure batters in the Indian T20I setup now as well. He also feels Shreyas was just unfortunate to miss out and claimed there was no disciplinary issue behind it.

“Certainly, in Shreyas Iyer’s case, there is absolutely no disciplinary reason for his non-inclusion. It’s just that he missed out. There were a lot of battes in the team”, Dravid said. “Shreyas missed out, he didn’t play the T20Is in South Africa, if you noticed. They are a lot of batters and it’s not easy to fit everyone. So, absolutely, there is no disciplinary reasons at all. At least I didn’t discuss such things with the selectors,” Rahul Dravid concluded.