Following a 32-ball 56, Ishan Kishan has revealed that it was captaincy that really helped him change and shape his game, both batting and reading the match situation. Kishan also admitted that the management had only told him to go out and play his natural game, without worrying too much.
While Ishan Kishan was picked in the Indian squad for the five-match T20I series against England, none really expected him to make his debut as an opener in the second T20I. With Shikhar Dhawan’s struggling form in the first clash, the management had trusted the southpaw to open alongside KL Rahul.
In his first appearance, the left-hander smashed a 32-ball 56, where he took on the English bowlers, in a Man of the Match performance. In the post-match press conference, the youngster revealed that being the captain of Jharkhand really helped him change his game and batting approach. He also added that while he missed the opportunity to finish the game off for the country, he insisted that he would finish games in the future.
“Yes (captaincy) helps, it helped me. I felt that as a captain, you can’t just go and play your normal game. You have to look at all the things, how should I play, how will it help the team. That way you put yourself under pressure and that way it isn’t easy, you just can’t just go and smack every bowler. You also have to look at the other players, who look at you as an example,” Kishan told pressers.
“From that point, captaincy has really changed the way I look at the game, in my batting, understanding the situation and reading the game. I couldn’t finish the game today but will make sure that I finish games for India in the future.”
Kishan also stressed out that it was a ‘proud’ moment for him to bat alongside Virat Kohli, and insisted he would try to match his energy-levels in the future games.
“It was a proud moment for me, I had always looked at Virat Kohli from the television. But to see that in front was really good, his energy levels were pretty good and to match that is something that I look forward to and learn from him. And all those small talks in the middle really eases the pressure from the players, obviously, I got to learn a lot – on the pitch and away from it as well.”
However, when asked about his batting position, the left-hander was clear-cut with his answer that there isn’t a fixed spot. Kishan also admitted that he looks at him more of a ‘floater’ than an opener.
“I think that as level increases, there isn’t a fixed spot for yourself, so you can’t really just be an opener, so you become a floater. I don’t play the numbers, I play the situation, so that was something that I learnt over the years, helping the team.”
While there is bound to be pressure ahead of a debut clash, the 22-year-old revealed that the management just asked him to play his ‘natural’ game that has yielded him success in the Indian Premier League, where he scored 516 runs for Mumbai Indians in the last year’s IPL.
“I think obviously, you had to prepare well and hard, they (management) just told me to go and play my own game. They just asked me to play the situation and play like IPL, where I also opened. So they didn’t want me to do anything different this time, just the same thing and not focus too much on the other things.”
