Ishan Kishan acknowledges that a shift in his personality has contributed to his development as a more refined international cricketer.
Since his comeback to the Indian team last month, Kishan has not looked back, and his performances have solidified his position as the team’s first-choice wicket-keeper batsman, surpassing Sanju Samson.
In the powerplay on Thursday night against Namibia, the southpaw scored a 24-ball 61 to lead India to 86/1. In Abhishek Sharma’s absence, the blitzkrieg resulted in India breaking their biggest powerplay score in T20 World Cup history.
Following the victory, Kishan talked to reporters about his personal and cricketing growth. First of all, he no longer jokes around as much as he did a few seasons ago after losing both a central deal and his spot on the team.
“No, I think I’m a changed man now, to be honest. 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 24×7, but now it’s just 2-3 hours of it,” Kishan said when asked whether he was in the same frame of mind as before his career took a turn for the worse.
Before the game began, Kishan had also given his teammates a pep talk.
“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 Bhai,” he added on a lighter note.
The left-hander’s execution of the big shots appeared to have improved in consistency. He hit JJ Smit for four sixes in an over on Thursday.
In response to a question about whether his batting strategy has evolved in a way that gives him more freedom to bat, Kishan reminded the scribes that he also takes odd singles.
“No, I do take singles as well and I do defend the good balls (smiles). But I don’t know if I’ve done a very big 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 trying to watch 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. So I’m not doing so much or thinking so much about batting, or getting into extra training sessions, but yeah just trying to watch the ball and be calm in the wicket,” he said.
Kishan also emphasized the need of playing a few dot balls according to the circumstances of the game.
“Two-three dot balls also it should not make a difference because I think the batters in our team they all got strength, they all got that ability to hit at any point of time. So it’s just a matter of two balls.
“And for us, it’s important to understand that thing also. Like, two balls, if you get two sixes, it’s all covered. So, we have to wait for a time rather than just throwing our wicket,” said the explosive batter.
