Shirdi, Jul 18 (IANS): India's wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan celebrated his 26th birthday in a religious manner by visiting the Shree Samadhi Mandir in Shirdi, Maharashtra.

Seeking blessings from Sai Baba, Kishan shared a picture of him on social media ‘Instagram’ accompanied by a caption: 'Sharddha and Saburi'.

Kishan's last international appearance was in the five-match T20I series against Australia in November last year, where he impressed with a half-century. Despite his talents, Kishan faced criticism for skipping Ranji Trophy matches for Jharkhand, a decision that came after then head coach Rahul Dravid emphasised the importance of playing domestic cricket to secure a spot in the national team.

Kishan was notably excluded from the BCCI annual contract list alongside Shreyas Iyer. He selected for India's South Africa tour across all three formats in December but opted out of the entire series, citing personal reasons. Consequently, he was also left out of India's squad for the Afghanistan series this January due to his unconfirmed availability.