Sometimes, hard work needn’t result in success. Despite putting in the hard yards, career-growth could feel slow. For a while, Ishan Kishan might have felt that way. Somewhere in early 2024, Kishan took a break from international cricket. Subsequently, there were reports that as he didn’t play domestic cricket during the 2023-24 season, he had dropped out of national reckoning. Soon, Kishan was even left out of the national contract list.
Kishan, however, didn’t drown himself in a pool of depression. During the 2025-26 season, Kishan topped the run charts in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and broke open the door of national selection to grab a place in the Indian squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup. What more? In the second T20I of the ongoing series versus New Zealand, his game-breaking 76 was the cornerstone of India chasing down a 200-plus total. His timely knock also ensured that he would be in contention for an opener’s slot going into the World Cup, just in case Sanju Samson continues to struggle with the bat.
After the second T20I against New Zealand, Kishan said the following lines in the presser, “I asked myself one question – Can I do it again? I had a very clear answer.” And Kishan has answered the lingering questions on his attitude and game through continuous improvement. One of them is upgrading his cross-batted shots, especially the pull.
Just take a glance at his aggressive innings versus New Zealand and you will observe that 17 of his 76 runs came via the pull stroke. Kishan’s off-side game too has improved. In that same T20I versus the Black Caps, he also crunched six boundaries through the off-side.
Eons ago, as Sarfraz Khan and Rishabh Pant hogged the limelight in the Under-19 World Cup, it felt as if Ishan Kishan was the odd man out. The captain of that Indian Under-19 squad could only muster an average of 12. The wicketkeeper-bat looked a bit out of sorts at the Under-19 level and there were question marks about his future. It almost seemed as if Kishan was the lesser version of Pant. A journey back to the present times would tell you that Kishan hasn’t just come out of Pant’s shadows, but his career is all set to fly.
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