I am changed man now, says Ishan Kishan
By his own admission, a personality change has played a part in Ishan Kishan becoming a more refined international cricketer. Kishan has not looked back since his India comeback last month and, by sheer weight of performances, has cemented his place in the side as the first choice wicket-keeper batter ahead of Sanju Samson.
The southpaw played another special knock on Thursday night against Namibia, a 24-ball 61, to fire India to 86 for one in the powerplay. The blitzkrieg came in Abhishek Sharma’s absence and led to India smashing their highest powerplay score in the history of the T20 World Cup. Talking to reporters after the win, Kishan spoke about how he has changed as a person and cricketer. To start with, he doesn’t joke around as much as he did a couple of seasons ago when he lost his place in the team and also a central contract.
“No, I think I’m a changed man now, to be honest. I don’t get into it too much, but I do enjoy jokes and everything. I do it, but earlier I used to do it 24x7, but now it’s just 2-3 hours of it,” said Kishan when asked if he was back in the mindset that he had before his career took a downturn. Kishan had also given a pep talk to the team before the start of the game.
“I am just focusing more on batting and my wicket keeping which is going to help the team and which is going to help me. Everything is secondary so I am not just always joking but especially under Gauti Bhai,” he added on a lighter note. The left-hander seemed to have found more consistency in his execution of the big shots. On Thursday, he hammered JJ Smit for four sixes in an over. On if anything has changed in his batting approach that is allowing him to bat more freely, Kishan reminded the room that he does take the odd singles as well.
“No, I do take singles as well and I do defend the good balls (smiles). But I don’t know if I’ve done a very big amount of hard work or something, I just kept it simple rather than rushing into the overs or getting excited and playing those shots. “I’m just trying to be calm on the pitch and trying to watch the ball and play those shots which I already had, but sometimes you get excited and play those shots when you’re playing international cricket.
“So I’m just trying to cut those moments off in my life and just try to play my own shots, which I am good at and which are on that particular wicket. So I’m not doing so much or thinking so much about batting or getting into extra training sessions, but yeah just trying to watch the ball and be calm in the wicket,” he said. Kishan also stressed on the need for playing a few dot balls as per the game situation.
“Two-three dot balls also it should not make a difference because I think the batters in our team they all got strength and they all got that ability to hit at any point of time. So it’s just a matter of two balls. “And for us, it’s important to understand that thing also. Like, two balls, if you get two sixes, it’s all covered. So, we have to wait for a time rather than just throwing our wicket,” said the explosive batter. India’s Ishan Kishan plays a shot during an ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 cricket match between India and Namibia, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Thursday.
