Ishan Kishan reflects on India comeback after period outside team

Ishan Kishan said his time outside the Indian team helped him address shortcomings in his fitness and batting. After returning to the national setup, he said he has shifted his focus from selection worries to preparation, performance and contributing to India’s success.

New Delhi: Ishan Kishan said a period outside the Indian team forced him to confront his shortcomings and rebuild his game through fitness, batting and domestic cricket, as the wicketkeeper-batter reflected on his return to the national setup after India’s opening T20I against the West Indies in Lucknow.

Kishan, who contributed an unbeaten 37 in India’s eight-wicket win, said he has since shifted his focus from worrying about selection setbacks to making a consistent contribution whenever he gets the opportunity.

---

The 27-year-old’s return has been built around a more deliberate approach to his game. Instead of dwelling on the possibility of another omission, Kishan said he now wants to concentrate on the aspects directly within his control, preparation, performance and contribution to the team.

“When I was dropped from the international team, I understood the consequences of a few mistakes that I had made. So, I worked on my fitness and my batting. I stayed patient and focused on rectifying my mistakes by doing well in domestic cricket. I knew if I kept performing in domestic cricket, the opportunity would come and I earned the recall to the national squad because of my hard work,” Kishan told JioStar.

For Kishan, the innings also illustrated the value of understanding what a particular situation demands rather than attempting to force his own game into every phase of a match. With Iyer dominating the attack, Kishan concentrated on rotating the strike and capitalising when deliveries entered his scoring areas.

“Once you come back to the side, you don’t think about what’s going to happen if I get dropped again. The most important thing is to enjoy cricket and just focus on doing the best I can to contribute to the success of the team. My job is to keep scoring runs and if I am able to do that, then the rest will be taken care of automatically,” he added.

That philosophy was evident in his role during India’s first T20I of the series. After Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson fell early, Kishan joined captain Shreyas Iyer and helped stabilise the chase. The pair added 137 unbeaten runs for the third wicket, with Iyer producing a career-defining 102 not out and Kishan finishing on 37 not out.

The result was an emphatic start for India under Iyer. Having restricted West Indies to 171 after choosing to bowl, India reached 172 for two in only 14.4 overs, with Iyer’s maiden T20I century providing the centrepiece of the chase.