Left-handed batsman Ishan Kishan can bat at any position from number one to number five and always registers his lively presence as a wicketkeeper. This is the reason why he is included in the Indian team as the second wicket-keeper batsman after KL Rahul for the World Cup.
However, Kishan’s journey to reach here has not been easy. He left Patna and settled in Ranchi to get better facilities in cricket. Jharkhand fast bowler and Kishan’s friend Monu Kumar said, ‘He has been a ‘fighter’ since the beginning and his opinion about making a career in cricket was clear. The area where he practiced was very close to Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s house and he always wants to follow Mahi Bhai’s footsteps and always watches his videos.
He said, ‘Luckily in 2013 JSCA stadium was ready which helped them to improve their game.’ Former Indian wicket-keeper batsman Kiran More, who worked with Kishan at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) since 2018, also praised the Jharkhand player.
More told PTI, ‘I was at NCA for the wicketkeepers’ camp and players like Kishan and Sanju Samson were included in that batch. Kishan is a very agile player and even at that age his wicketkeeping was excellent.
More said that he did not make any significant changes in Kishan’s game and only made some improvements. He said, ‘He was a natural player. I told him about his head position and sitting position as a wicketkeeper.
More further said that apart from this, we also did some work on the position of catching the ball. Even when I joined Mumbai Indian, we worked on some things. He is always ready to learn something new.
Kishan usually got a chance to play in the top order in ODIs, but when he was dropped at number five in the Asia Cup against Pakistan, he played a brilliant inning of 82 runs in odd conditions.
After this some former cricketers asked him to give priority over KL Rahul during the World Cup. KL Rahul is also a part of the team. Now on Sunday it will be interesting to see who India Rahul or Kishan gives a chance in the match against Pakistan.