Kishan's Journey: Picking Up the Pieces

Mumbai: Over the past year, Ishan Kishan has faced more scrutiny than recognition for his talent. As the Duleep Trophy commences this week, the determined wicketkeeper-batsman has the opportunity to leave behind last season's struggles and begin anew.

It is unlikely to be easy. He knows he has a lot to make up, having left midway through the South Africa tour last year before the Test series citing mental fatigue and losing the BCCI central contract earlier this year after his rebellious behaviour, not heeding the board’s directive to play domestic cricket when out of international action.

There will be consequences for his decisions. Starting with the Duleep Trophy, his attitude will be under scrutiny. The decision makers will be seeking proof of whether he still has the desire and hunger to compete at the highest level, or if he is among the mercenary players who are satisfied with the big money in IPL.

There’s no doubting his quality as a cricketer. Till the 2023 ODI World Cup, his career was going fine. A brilliant counter-attacking innings against a world class Pakistan attack in the ODI Asia Cup in Sri Lanka had added to his confidence.

He even had a good run in the T20s against Australia. However, for some reason he fell out of favour in South Africa. It’s been downhill since.

When you have a big, alternative platform, you always believe you can prove your point. But by doing so Kishan put all eggs in one basket – IPL. A run of good scores in it was his best chance to silence his critics and impress the powers in BCCI. But the tournament didn’t go to expectations – Kishan scored 320 runs in 14 matches averaging 22.85 with a strike rate of over 148, with one fifty.

As he gets back to red-ball cricket, the question is: Has he frittered away his best chance to play Test cricket? But for the South Africa episode, he was the frontrunner to play all five Tests against England at home. But he told the selectors he was not ready to return.

As it turned out, Dhruv Jurel, who replaced KS Bharat, emerged an unlikely hero in the series as ‘keeper-batter. With Rishabh Pant also back to full fitness now, a comeback in red-ball cricket will be tough for Kishan.

His childhood coach Uttam Mazumdar says Kishan sees this season as a new mission. “The key is not to look back at what has happened. It is a new season, (go in with) new thinking and new goal. I told him, “you have a new mission in your career, rise to it”.”

Mazumdar has known Kishan since he took him under his wings as a seven-year-old while coaching at the Moinul-ul-Haq Stadium in Patna.

“When a good player doesn’t get to play, only he knows what he is going through. Ishan is no different,” says Mazumdar, who now runs an academy in Greater Noida. “Now he is mature because this one year is something he will remember throughout his life. He has to take it in a positive way, make it his strength and fight back.”

There’s no doubting his quality. Kishan hit a half-century on T20I debut and has an ODI double century. But he fell out of favour with coach Rahul Dravid. The 26-year-old would hope he gets a more favourable assessment from Gautam Gambhir.

Former India ‘keeper and national selector Saba Karim says with his first-class experience, it won’t take Kishan long to adjust again.

“He has made the right decision to come back; he has played Buchi Babu for Jharkhand. In the two matches there, he got a hundred in the first game, so whatever is there in his capacity, he is trying to do. I am happy to see him back. The selectors have done a good job picking him for Duleep Trophy because he has got enormous talent. Such cricketers, you have to keep them in the fold so that they can recover from whatever difficult phases they face in their career.”

And an India comeback? “These things do happen at international level, you have to fight back, have a fresh perspective when you are trying to get back into the team. There is a healthy competition for spots in the Test eleven and it bodes well for the youngsters. They realise that eventually it is performance that will matter.”

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