100% Sure I Will Represent The Indian Cricket Team One Day: Ishan Kishan

Ishan Kishan, on Monday (May 28), admitted that not getting a place in the India A squad for the England tour was disappointing for him.

The young wicketkeeper-batsman from Jharkhand has looked in fine form this season. He had a brilliant outing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The youngster amassed 313 runs in five innings for Jharkhand at an average of 78.25 in the nation’s premier 50-over tournament. He followed it up with a modest outing in the Indian Premier League.

Playing for Mumbai Indians, the southpaw started the season brightly before losing track towards the end. He finished the season with 275 runs to his name. However, the performances were not enough to give him a place in the India A squad, much to his disappointment.

At the same time, Kishan is not letting the disappointment hurt his ambitions. The keeper-batsman is confident of donning the national jersey in the future.

“It does hurt because I thought I would be in the India A side. I had quite a few runs in Vijay Hazare Trophy and IPL. But it’s okay if the selectors didn’t feel that way. I can’t help that. But I can obviously focus on my performances and try and improve on my game,” said Kishan.

“I know I will represent the Indian cricket team one day. I’m 100% sure about that,” added Kishan who had led India to the final of Under-19 World Cup in 2016.

One of the reasons behind Kishan’s average show in the latter part of the IPL was the tinkering with his batting order. Speaking about that, he said:

“I think it’s tough when you are prepared to come one-down but eventually come in to bat at No 5 but still have to do things according to your team’s requirement,” he said. “You have to be prepared for every situation when you’re playing the IPL and you can’t complain later that you weren’t batting in your position.”

Kishan further revealed some more positives from the season.

He said how he benefitted from talking to senior players like Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni.

“I spoke to seniors like Rohit Sharma who told me not to worry and learn as much as possible from this season so that I know how to improve next year,” he said.

“I spoke to Mahi (MS Dhoni) bhai regarding both my batting and wicket-keeping skills. What had been happening is that once I would perform, I would often get a bit relaxed. He asked me to stay mentally tough and not get relaxed after a good game and continue with the same intensity,” he added.