Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh extends birthday wishes to Ishan Kishan

MUMBAI: Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh extended wishes to India batter Ishan Kishan on his 26th birthday. The 2011 World Cup winner took to Instagram to wish Kishan a happy birthday and stated that he is looking forward to seeing the southpaw return to the field soon.

"Happy Birthday. Enjoy your special day buddy. Looking forward to seeing you back in action soon," Yuvraj wrote on Instagram.

Kishan visited Shree Samadhi Mandir, Shirdi, to take blessings on his 26th birthday. He shared glimpses of his visit as he offered prayers and took blessings from Sai Baba.

It has been a turbulent year for Kishan in terms of his on-field career. Earlier this year, along with Shreyas Iyer, Kishan was excluded from the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) central contracts. Kishan skipped Ranji Trophy matches despite not featuring for the national team. He was a part of the Indian squad for the South Africa Test series squad last year but pulled out due to 'personal reasons'. He last played a T20I for India in November last year, sitting out Ranji matches featuring Jharkhand. After being snubbed from the contract list, Kishan made his return to competitive cricket while playing for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the 18th DY Patil T20 Cup 2024 against Route Mobile Limited. He went on to feature for the five-time champion Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. In 14 matches, the southpaw batter racked up 320 runs at an average of 22.86, scoring at a strike rate of 148.84. Still in the early stages of his career, Kishan has a number of accolades to his name. The southpaw holds the record for the fastest ODI double century. He has also played a couple of memorable knocks for India in white-ball cricket.