CHENNAI: When Ishan Kishan walked out to bat against Madhya Pradesh at the India Cements Cricket Ground, Tirunelveli on Friday for Jharkhand, it was the first time he played a professional red-ball match since the Test against West Indies in Port of Spain last July.
A lot had happened in the year that had gone by. Kishan was a part of the Indian team that won the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, in the squad when the team reached the final of the ODI World Cup and played white-ball cricket against Australia at home and South Africa away. By the time the Test series came along, Kishan had asked for a break due to fatigue — it was reported that he had asked for a break twice since the ODI WC but didn't get — and was left out of the squad for the two-match series in the longest format. Then came a whole cycle of events in a short period.
Kishan made himself available for the T20I series against Afghanistan but was not picked. Similarly, for the Test series against England, he was not part of the squad. As the weeks went by, Kishan did not turn up for Jharkhand in the Ranji Trophy and was eventually dropped from the BCCI central contract. Since then he has had a forgetful IPL, and had to start from scratch to get back into the mix for the Indian team.
Former India head coach Rahul Dravid in February had said that the choice is with Kishan. "There's a way back for anyone and everyone. It's not that we rule out anybody from anything. I just don't want to go on labouring about the Kishan point. I've tried to explain it as best as I can. The point was that, you know, he requested a break. We were happy to give him a break and whenever he was ready... I didn't say he has to play domestic cricket. I said, whenever he's ready he needs to play some cricket and come back, and the choice is his," Dravid had said.
And the first step towards doing that is the ongoing Buchi Babu invitational tournament organised by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. Kishan, leading Jharkhand in the tournament, did not waste any time to make his mark. On Friday, he came in at No 6 after Madhya Pradesh were dismissed for 225. He took his time to settle, but soon after Kishan was on track. He hit a couple of sixes off Akash Rajawat to get himself going and then there was no stopping him. Ten sixes and five fours flew off his bat as Kishan smashed 114 off 107 balls as Jharkhand finished the day on 277/7.
The match is still in balance, and so is the tournament. But for Kishan, this century is so much more. It is his first small tick towards an India comeback. The next stop will be the Duleep Trophy starting September 5.