NEW DELHI: Ishan Kishan still had his keeping pads and spikes on as he walked over to the press conference room at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Thursday night. With a white sweatshirt over his jersey, he sat down with a wide grin to take questions. Kishan had once again shown why he is India’s first-choice keeper-opener with a swashbuckling 24-ball 61, setting the tone for India against Namibia.
Since coming back to the Indian team, Kishan has been the best batter, smashing 296 runs in six innings at an average of 49.33 and a strike rate of 222.55. Thursday was no different as he helped India cross the 100-run mark within the powerplay. It allowed India to post 208/9 despite two mini collapses in between.
His return to the team has been the story of 2026 in Indian cricket. He warmed the bench through the 2023 ODI World Cup. Later, he wanted a break, fell out of favour, was dropped from the Indian team and central contracts. It took him two years and a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title with Jharkhand, right in time to make the cut for the home T20 World Cup.
In his own words, he is a changed man who takes things seriously, not a young kid who is all about the fun. “I don't get into it too much, but I do enjoy jokes and everything. I do it, but earlier I used to do it 24x7. Now it's just 2-3 hours of it. So I am just focusing more on batting and my wicket-keeping, which is going to help the team and which is going to help me. Everything is secondary, so I am not just always joking but especially under Gauti (Gautam Gambhir) Bhai,” Kishan told reporters on Thursday.
His transformation and comeback could not come at a better time for India. Till he joined the team, Abhishek Sharma was the lone aggressor at the top. And India had been over-reliant on him. Kishan, however, has ensured there is another batter to take on bowlers and maximise the powerplay. And it is not just a gung-ho approach where he slogs his way out against bowling attacks.
“I do take singles as well, and I do defend the good balls. But I don't know if I have done a very large amount of hard work or something. I just kept it simple rather than rushing into the overs or getting excited and playing those shots. I'm just trying to be calm on the pitch and just watching the ball and play those shots which I already had, but sometimes you get excited and play those shots when you're playing international cricket. So I'm just trying to cut those moments off in my life and just try to play my own shots, which I am good at and which is on on that particular wicket,” he said.
Kishan also went on to explain the significance of a powerplay, especially in a tournament such as the World Cup. It will be even more crucial when India take the field against Pakistan in Colombo on Sunday. The pitches in Sri Lanka have been on the slower side and Kishan will be paramount, especially with uncertainty over Abhishek’s participation in the clash.
“We are all looking to use the power play as much as we can. And we are selecting the bowlers. When first over, if you see, what was Ruben Trumpelmann, he bowled pretty well a few balls, so we did not take charge on that because we knew later on, once the ball stops swinging, maybe we can go for an extra 10 runs in the over instead of scoring 15, we can go for 24 or something.
“Today it was different, tomorrow when we play against Pakistan, it might be different. So we need to assess as soon as possible, know about the wicket more, know about their bowling strength, who's going to bowl when and who we can take on. If it's required for me to take a single and give the strike to someone else, I'll do that as well. So it's important to be aware of the game situation, and I feel if you get a good start in power play, you should always try, and maybe one batter can always go for sixes at any point in time. But I think one of the top three batters is supposed to bat for long. And we have been doing it pretty consistently. And now it's just time for us to be in a good headspace and be calm in the situation. Even if the over did not go our way, we'll just try and look at the situation, look at the bowler who we can charge and who we can just try and rotate strike on.”
Come Sunday, the Indian team management would be hoping that Kishan picks up from where he left off and continues to dominate against Pakistan at the R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday.
