Gujarat lions' teenage batting sensation Ishan Kishan is happy to open the innings for the Suresh Raina-led side, even though he knows that nothing is assured in cricket.
"I am hitting the ball well at the moment," said a poised Kishan. "But how things will go on a day, you never know. Nothing is sure in cricket. But if asked to open again, I will focus on getting my team a good start," he added
This edition of the Indian Premier league has seen the likes of Nitish Rana (Mumbai Indians), Rishabh Pant (Delhi Daredevils) and T Natarajan (Kings XI Punjab) announce their arrival at the big stage as potential stars-in-the-making. Along the lines, Gujarat have one of their own in 18-year-old Ishan, who also captained India to the Final of under-19 World Cup in 2016.
The flamboyant batsman, who started batting at No 6, is now promoted to open ahead of Australian Aaron Finch. He justified the faith showed in him by skipper Raina with two good knocks in back-to-back matches - 31 off 24 balls and 48 off 35 balls - and raring to go for a big innings against Delhi Daredevils here on Thursday. Kishan, despite at this young age, is smart enough to keep his feet on the ground and was respectful of his opponent.
"Delhi are in similar situation as us, it is a do-or-die situation for both of us. We are in a situation where we can't lose anymore. But we have a positive mentality and we will fight till the end," he said while on his visit to the Made Easy Cricket Academy, here on Wednesday.
After being promoted to top order, it gave Kishan the opportunity to partner with Kiwi great Brendon McCullum. Being a keeper-batsman himself, the teenager feels he is lucky to learn tricks of the game from the experienced New Zealander.
"It's a very good experience for me (to open with McCullum). I get to learn a lot from him, having someone like him at the other end takes pressure off me."
While he enjoys playing alongside the Kiwi star, he idolises his Jharkhand team-mate Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
"Dhoni has always been my idol. And after sharing a dressing room with him (in Ranji) I idolise him even more. He always gives me valuable suggestions like not to change my style and work on my aggression as well as asked me to slowly pace my innings," he said.