Atreyo Mukhopadhyay
It was Ishan Kishan today. It can be someone else tomorrow. How do you keep the door shut on this enormous pool of talents? In India, there are lots of them. It’s just a question of grooming them, giving them the break at the right time. If you do that, you reap the rewards. Was it not the case in Chattogram?
It was downright outrageous. That knock by Kishan. What audacity, power and ability to execute plans. It was almost as if, the bowler did not exist. I can do whatever I want, hit the ball wherever I want to, whenever I disdain. It was not real. Even Virat Kohli was breaking into applauds from the other end. Kishan was playing from another level.
This will not happen every day. There will be games where Kishan will look more like a mortal. He will not make batting look so easy all the time. But the matter is, the likes of him should be persisted with. Even if he scores at half the rate he did in the third ODI, he will be a handful. Opposition teams will be wary of him, for the damage he can do to them in minimal time.
He is cocky, to begin with. Has a lot of self belief. He does not respect bowlers. He steps out against the quicker ones at the beginning of the innings and thinks he can pull those stunts off. Quite often, he does, truth to be told. I have seen him do in domestic cricket what he did against Bangladesh. Not a double hundred, but knocks of substance nonetheless. Confidence marks him out, separates him from others. He believes he can do it and backs himself to do that.
This is what Indian cricket needs. We must give chances to these youngsters who have shown the potential. Bring on the Sanju Samsons, Umran Maliks. They have proven that they have the spark. Give them a chance to show that they can go a step higher. Do not stick to the plan that this is what we have got and we will not experiment. Kishan is just one example. Give the rest a chance. It’s vast pool mind you. There are many eager to explode onto the big stage if given a chance.
This is what excites me about Indian cricket these days. There are so many kids with so much potential. It had to happen, given the way the game proliferated over the years and reached the interiors. Even ten years ago, who thought that the so called backwaters will become a consistent supply line? MS Dhoni was perceived to be an exception. Who foresaw the rise of Kishan from the same state?
Then, this has happened. The Indian Premier League has played a part. So has our domestic cricket system. These boys and girls do not go by reputations. They believe in themselves. Manifestation of this culture of believing in themselves was the double century by Kishan. There was a huge message in that robust effort. Do not count us out. We are the new India. Series lost yes. This was a massive silver lining in the dead rubber.