Ishan Kishan: From a humble village to India's trusted wicketkeeper-batter

Many would agree that Ishan Kishan is a compelling package a hardhitting lefthander who can bat anywhere from top to No 5 and a capable presence behind the wicketsIt was a natural ascension for Kishan when he was included in Indias World Cup squad as the second wicketkeeper batsman behind KL RahulHowever his journey to the top has not always been a rosy oneKishan had to shift from Patna to Ranchi in search of better cricketing facilitiesHe is a fighter from a very young age and was clear in his career as a cricketer His practice nets SAIL grounds were very close to MS Dhonis house and he always wanted to follow Mahi bhais footsteps and keeps watching his videos Luckily for him the JSCA Stadium where they have turf wickets was opened in 2013 and it helped him a lot to develop his game said Monu Kumar the Jharkhand pacer and a close friend of KishanIt is easy to mistake Kishan for a clone of Dhoni a destructive batter who keeps wickets and both of them come from the same state But there is more to Kishan than being a mere Dhoni progenyFormer India stumper Kiran More who has worked with Kishan since 2018 at the NCA as well as at the Mumbai Indians shared more details about the many contours of his wards gameAlso Read Indias ODI dilemma Tough call between KL Rahul and Ishan KishanHe is a natural at everything he does I was at the NCA for a wicketkeepers camp and Kishan had others like Sanju Samson in his batch Kishan was so athletic and he had such soft hands even at that age More told PTIMore said he did not have to tweak Kishans game much and just had to make some minor correctionsHe came with a naturally good game I had to tell him a bit about his head and squatting positions We also worked a bit on his ball collection and a few other minor techniquesLater we worked on the same things a bit more during my time at the Mumbai Indians What stands out is his ability to adapt and willingness to learniquest said MoreThose abilities came to the fore when he was asked to bat at No 5 a first in his nascent career during the Asia Cup match against Pakistan last week here at PallekeleKishan fully exploited the opportunity handed to him making a fluent 82 off 81 ballsMore was pleased to see the development of Kishan as a genuine wicketkeeper batterKishans knock against Pakistan was all the more important because it came against a topclass bowling unit and India were struggling at 66 for 4 at one stageKishans innings offered little surprise to Mumbai Indians assistant batting coach and former Karnataka batter J Arunkumar Many times we only see one side of his Kishans batting because he is such a fabulous hitter of the ball But there is more to his batting than that eyecatching shotmaking He is calm and collected under any situation That mature head is his biggest asset said ArunkumarWith PTI inputs