Ishan Kishan joins India’s list of fiery debutants

About an hour after he had unleashed some spectacular fireworks on his debut—an unusual sight for an Indian opener in recent times—a calm and understated avatar of Ishan Kishan arrived for the post-match media interaction on Sunday.

He began almost every answer with the word “obviously”, yet there was nothing obvious about the resurrection and rise of Kishan’s career as a cricketer.

Yet one thing is for sure: if Indian cricket has produced a rollicking ride over the last four months, it—“obviously” Kishan would say—has to do with the quality of its debutants.

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In Canberra, it was Thangarasu Natarajan; in Melbourne, Mohammed Siraj; in Brisbane, Washington Sundar (Test debut); in Chennai, Axar Patel (Test debut) and now, in the second T20 against England in the 5-match series, Ishan Kishan. In each instance, it was the debutant that sparkled with the bat or the ball—sometimes with both—to set the tone of the match.

Add to the mix Rishabh Pant, who has a newfound spring in his steps and strength in the wrists after a torrid time, and half of that group has graduated from India’s 2016 U-19 World Cup squad that finished runners-up.

They have travelled vastly different paths to get here.

Pant was the chosen one and was the first from that group to graduate into the senior side. After a decent IPL 2016, his big hitting prowess earned him an India senior T20I cap in 2017. Sundar proved his mettle at the 2017 IPL and made his debut for India before the end of the year.

While his peers were making their international debuts, Kishan, who had led India at the U-19 World Cup, was struggling. He had a poor 2016 IPL for Gujarat Lions (42 runs in five matches) and followed it up with another average 2017 season (277 in 11 games).

And yet, if Mumbai Indians paid ₹6.2 crores in the 2018 IPL auctions, it was because they had seen the spark of Kishan’s talent underneath the struggle.

A left-handed top order bat who could muscle his way through the bowling, he was the kind of explosive starter that MI needed. A glimpse of it was seen at the 2016 IPL where he scored 61 off 40 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad. It made Kishan the then third youngest half-centurion in IPL. That same year, Kishan scored 273 runs off 336 balls batting at No. 6 against Delhi (that had players like Pant and Unmukt Chand) in a Ranji Trophy game. His innings was laden with 14 sixes and 21 fours and is the highest-ever score by a Jharkhand player.

But those performances increasingly looked like flashes in the pan. A youngster who rose through the ranks under Rahul Dravid, was slipping into the “nearly there” zone.

For MI too, Kishan struggled. His 2018 and 2019 IPL seasons were underwhelming. His flamboyance, went one line of thought, was expressed in his love for bling off the field rather than his performances on the field.

But MI is a team that believes in keeping its squad together and allowing long ropes for players to develop and come good. For Kishan, MI retaining him for the 2020 season despite his failures in the last two editions was a turning point.

“I have been working with them (Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard) for the last three years,” Kishan said during the tournament about his progress as a player with MI. “I know how they plan the game. It’s not only about power hitting (but also) how they take the game to the last over or how they put pressure on the bowlers also. At the same time how they rotate the strike. How to keep players confused (about) your next move.”

But it was not until an injury to his state-mate Saurabh Tiwary that Kishan finally got an opportunity to bring his learnings onto the field. He hammered 516 runs in a 14-game spree, more than any other batsman in the team.

On Sunday, his perseverance was rewarded with a India cap and the MI impact came up again after he his 32-ball 56.

“Before the game, Rohit bhai (Kishan’s captain at MI) said to me to not take any tension,” Kishan said. “Just play freely like you do in the IPL. Even Virat bhai said the same thing when he was batting with me. I kept that in mind. Obviously I was nervous going inside, but I wanted to do well in the national jersey.

“It helps when you face bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult (both MI pacers) in the nets. It gives you confidence if you can play your shots against those very fast bowlers in the nets. During the IPL you face quality bowlers from all the countries. (James) Pattinson, (Nathan) Coulter-Nile all these are quality bowlers. When you play them you get used to facing quality pace.”

Kishan’s explosive style (he hit four sixes and five fours) suits Kohli’s plans of adding more firepower to the Indian batting line-up in T20s. Kishan does not shy away from risks, like the attempted reverse sweep against Adil Rashid that got him out LBW.

In this, he is different from the others in contention for the opener’s spot in T20s.

KL Rahul and Sharma were named first-choice openers by Kohli ahead of the series, while Shikhar Dhawan (dropped after the first game) has been marked as the backup. But with Kishan’s entry and Rahul’s back-to-back low scores (1 and 0), the team management may be tempted to play a third opening combination – Kishan and Sharma (who was rested for the first couple of games) – in the third T20I on Tuesday.

“He’s (Kishan) a fearless character. He should continue to back his instincts,” Kohli said after the match. “We had a conversation out in the middle where he understood and analysed the game very smartly. He knew he was hitting the ball well so he kept taking his chances. But he was calculated. He wasn’t reckless. And that’s what you want to see in youngsters.”

If Kishan gets another chance, it could mean Rahul sitting out or dropping down the order. Kishan could also be used lower down the order with Sharma and Rahul as openers. Kohli is well known for tweaking team compositions, and this series gives him the perfect platform to find his perfect XI before the 2021 T20 World Cup.

“As you play at the highest level, there is no fixed spot for you. Just because I opened in my first game, does not mean that I will play in the same spot in my next match as well. Also, the left-right combination comes (in) to play. So, I am not thinking about that,” Kishan said. “I feel proud that guys with whom I started playing cricket for India are here with me. They inspire me to do better.”