Ashok Namboodiri
In the Mahabharata, Dhurandhar is not the hero who arrives with a plan. He is the hero who arrives when plans fail. He is much like the 2025 film Dhurandhar, where Ranveer Singh plays a man who is not smooth, not polished, not predictable and survives because he moves faster than fear, hits before hesitation, and turns disorder into opportunity. In the final match of the T20 series versus New Zealand at Thiruvananthapuram, Ishan Kishan scored 103 in 43 balls and was voted Player of the Match.
That is where Ishan belongs in this Indian T20 side. He is not the classical opener. He is not the anchor. He is not the calming presence and definitely not the clasical disruptor. In a team increasingly defined by structure, roles and data-driven certainty, Ishan is the anomaly. He plays as if the game is permanently slipping away and only speed, audacity and instinct can pull it back.
A couple of years ago, he was a player in the same mould but younger. The quiet distancing from the national set-up triggered whispers about commitment, discipline, and trust. Ishan’s falling out with the BCCI was never dramatic in public, but it was deeply symbolic. From first-choice to forgotten, he found himself outside the circle of certainty.
So he went back to the only place that doesn’t lie — domestic cricket. His exploits for Jharkhand in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy speak for themselves. Just runs, hunger, and the slow rebuilding of credibility. He tore into bowlers with the same defiance that once made him indispensable, but now with something new: humility. He battered his way back. And in doing so, Ishan turned doubt into momentum and crafted the classical redemption arc. His celebration after scoring his century underscored that emotion as Hardik Pandya looked on indulgently.
Every great T20 side needs a player who breaks the emotional balance of the contest. Someone who makes bowlers feel rushed, captains feel uncertain, and crowds feel something shift. For India, heading into the World Cup, that player is Ishan Kishan.
Send him when the power play feels stuck or when bowlers are in control. Ishan does not “build” innings. He cracks them open. His bat does not negotiate. It announces. One boundary changes field placements. Two change bowling plans. Three change the entire rhythm of a match.
Left-handed, fearless, and permanently in attack mode, he distorts match-ups and compresses time. Bowlers lose the luxury of patience. Captains lose the comfort of patterns. Suddenly, the game is not being played at their pace anymore. Like Ranveer’s Dhurandhar, Ishan thrives in volatility. He does not seek safety. He seeks impact. He plays as if the present moment is the only one that matters.
Ishan’s value is not in averages or elegance. It is in courage. In intent. In the willingness to look foolish in pursuit of being dangerous. He is the player who reminds everyone that cricket, at its core, is still about nerve.
India’s T20 identity is now built on structured fearlessness. Role clarity, depth, and controlled aggression make the side perhaps the best ever in the format. And Ishan Kishan along with Abhishek Sharma are the ambassdors of this brand.
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