Who is Ishan Kishan?

Full name: Ishan Kishan

Born: July 18,1998

Current age: 22 years

Role: Wicket-Keeper Batsman

Batting style: Left-hand bat

Major teams: India Under-19s, Jharkhand, Gujarat Lions, Mumbai Indians

The Untold Story of Ishan Kishan: 'The Chhota Dynamite'

‘There will be instances when you’ll achieve fame in several tournaments and matches, which will add pressure on you. You just have to go and enjoy your game. Whatever you’ve been doing in practice, you have to just mimic that into an actual game.’

This advice from the Timeless Steel Rahul Dravid rings in Ishan Kishan’s ears, every time he goes out to bat.

Born in Nawada, Bihar, to Pranav Kumar Pandey and Suchitra Singh, Ishan Kishan started playing cricket when he was 7 years old. He was extremely talented but wasn’t serious about the sport. One day, Ishan’s coach approached his dad to tell him that his son was special, and he must push him to take cricket seriously.  Thus, began his exciting journey...

(Ishan with his bat. Image courtesy: Starsunfolded.com)

Ishan’s elder brother, Raj, also used to play cricket. His dad, who is in the construction business, was very clear that both cannot pick cricket as a profession, due to the high risk. He asked them to choose.

Ishan’s brother, Raj sacrificed for him and thus, played a pivotal role in his life.

(Ishan with his elder brother, Raj. Image courtesy: Cricbuzz)

(Ishan with his father. Image courtesy: Cricbuzz)

The Notorious Childhood of Ishan Kishan:

As a child, Ishan was just not interested in academics. The whole day he used to draw a cricket field in his books with the image of the crowd chanting “Ishan Ishan”! As he was a mischievous kid, Ishan’s parents used to be flooded with complaints.

Today, his parents can afford a good laugh at some of his pranks at school and home. His mom says that she has never seen his answer papers as he used to hide or throw them out of the bus.

When playing cricket in his building, he would smash the ball on the doors of other houses and hide. Half the building was at Ishan’s place complaining to his mom.

He wanted to pierce his ears in 6th grade and his school obviously was against it. So, he put it on his deceased grandfather that it was his last wish! And, guess what…his grandfather is still alive!

He says, even today, if he doesn’t get sleep, you just have to give him a book and he will fall asleep immediately. As a kid, he did not fear anybody and that can be seen on the pitch today!

The Cricketing Journey of Ishan Kishan:

He used to regularly practise in Moen-ul-Haque stadium in Patna and loved watching wicket keepers diving around. As luck would have it, his school wicketkeeper did not turn up one day. Ishan was asked to keep wickets, as he was a good fielder, and he took 2 catches and completed a stumping. That’s how his wicketkeeping journey began.

He also loves the fact that as a wicketkeeper he gets to sledge the opponents! At a very young age, he captained his school in the School World Cup, which was held in Aligarh.

 His school, DPS, was very particular about discipline & attendance. He used to play cricket the whole day and had a poor attendance record. As a result, the school asked him to quit and he did the very next day. All he cared about, was cricket.

When Ishan was a kid, his elder brother, Raj, was getting ready for U-14 trials of School Games Federation of India (SGFI) and Ishan was adamant that he also wanted to try. His dad agreed thinking that he could try for fun, as he wouldn’t get selected for sure.

Such was his talent at that age that Ishan played just 2-3 shots and was selected. In his formative years, he used to play in Bihar. However, the Bihar Cricket Association lost its affiliation due to the dispute with the BCCI. Hence, based on advice from his coach, brother & seniors, Ishan relocated to Jharkhand at the age of 15.

He climbed the ladder step by step: played for SAIL first, next entered the U-16 team, then the U-19 team, got picked for the Vijay Hazare trophy and finally made it to the Ranji team.

(Newspaper cuttings that carried Ishan’s news. Image courtesy: screenshot from cricbuzz video.)

All this was possible only because his parents and brother supported him to the maximum extent possible.

(Ishan with his family. Image courtesy : Instagram)

Slowly but surely, he became the talk of the town and India legend The Wall Rahul Dravid also was stunned seeing his batting against Saurashtra in a Ranji match. He still holds the record for the highest individual score in Ranji Trophy by a Jharkhand player (273) where he smashed 14 sixes.

 (Ishan smashed 273 against Delhi. Image courtesy: kreedon.com)

He led the Indian Cricket Team for the U-19 WC in 2016 in Bangladesh. They went all the way to the final and lost to West Indies. He did not score many runs, but his leadership skill was on display.

(U-19 WC 2016. Image courtesy: India.com)

He idolizes MS Dhoni for the way he carries himself and reaches out to him for guidance on keeping & batting. One advice he will always keep in mind is, ‘you’re an attacking batsman, but when you play a match, you should know when to pause and when you can start hitting again’,

 (Image credis: Mumbai Indians)

Rahul Dravid has had a huge influence on him too as the ex- U-19 coach. Ishan says:

“He is a superb coach; he comes and talks to me and the thing about him is that his words change your mind. When you feel the pressure, you can always go and talk to him and right away you feel like you can just go out there and do your job, which is to win matches for India”.

Dravid’s invaluable advice was always about how to read a situation or take the game forward. It was never about the change of technique.

(Image courtesy: deccanchronicle.com)

Even in this IPL, based on Rahul Dravid’s advice, he worked on his off-side shots. A testament to that is the jaw-dropping six over extra-cover, off Rabada, in the match between Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals.

Change of fortunes in Indian Premier League for Ishan Kishan:

Ishan Kishan made his IPL debut as a part of the Gujarat Lions team in 2016 and they retained him for the 2017 season as well.

During the 2018 auction, his dad was so worried that his BP shot up and had to be taken to the hospital. Once he got to know that he has been picked by MI for a handsome amount, he threw the BP machine and celebrated.

Like all of us at Bharat Army, Ishan is a massive Sachin Tendulkar fan. He froze when he saw Sachin in the MI camp for the first time. Rohit Sharma encouraged him to talk to him but to Ishan’s surprise, Sachin himself approached him. Ishan says, he was in shock and observed the way he interacted with people.

As a Mumbai Indians cricket fan, I can definitely see tremendous growth & maturity in Ishan this year. He missed a few matches at the beginning but since his comeback, he has played some critical innings scoring 395 runs at an average of 49! He stepped up to the occasion and played some incredible innings to take the defending champions Mumbai Indians to the IPL Playoffs 2020.

The superior performance this season is no fluke. The naughty boy has evolved into a serious cricketer and is evident when he says that he focuses on the process, practises hard and doesn’t worry about the results. He believes that results will follow if you focus on the basics and execute the plan.

 Sounds familiar? This is what Captain Cool Dhoni keeps saying again & again and looks like Ishan has absorbed it completely! Ishan has tremendous self-belief and that, he thinks, is the key to consistent performance.

Playing fearless cricket is his forte and that is surely on display in the IPL 2020. However, the biggest difference for the youngster has been observing & absorbing learnings from the senior players in the MI dressing room. He’s learnt invaluable lessons from Kieron Pollard & Hardik Pandya that he has put to practise.

‘It’s just not only about power (but also) how they take the game to last over or how they put pressure on the bowlers,” Ishan said. “And at the same time how they rotate strike. So, this is something I am learning from them. How to keep players confused (about) what’s your next move. It’s not just that you go there and start hitting,” he added.

We have seen some fierce hitting from Ishan this year and his mom’s food gets all the credit for his power. At times, he himself is surprised at how his sixes carry such a long way!

(Ishan with his mom. Image courtesy: Ishan’s Instagram) 

Like most cricketers, he is also extremely superstitious. He keeps the right leg inside the ground when he enters, marks leg stick 4 times and keeps legs crossed at the non-striker end.

He loves the game so much that he talks to his bat especially after getting out or after scoring runs, admonishing or praising it!

Ishan says he is not done yet. He only dreams about playing for India. He goes one step further to say that he will only be satisfied when he wins matches for India.

 I can tell you that the dream is not far away.

 An Indian jersey is just around the corner!