Ishan Kishan returned to International cricket after a two-year gap since December 2023.
This is the story of a boy from Jharkhand who played First-Class cricket at the tender age of 16. But it is also the story of three friends (Uttam Mohanty, Siddhant Singh, and Anshuman Srivastav), who went above and beyond to support their buddy during a mental health break. This is the story of Ishan Kishan.
The centurion from New Zealand T20Is is hitting the headlines for his flamboyant knocks ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026. But he’s the same player who didn’t don the India jersey for more than two years.
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The wicketkeeper-batter was part of the T20I squad for India’s tour to South Africa in December 2023. But he failed to get a game in the series. He announced his break from cricket on the grounds of mental fatigue, which sounded absurd coming from a young, 24-year-old lad. Kishan was frustrated for often warming the bench, but it was perceived as a lack of hunger to play cricket. It drew criticism from around the globe, especially after he lost BCCI’s central contract for missing domestic cricket as well.
“Those two years were tough, not only for Ishan but for his family too. What he had asked for was just a break, a mental break. It’s tough to warm benches, and it seems a time came where he said, ‘I need a break from this,’ and people took it otherwise,” Siddhant recalled in a chat with The Indian Express.
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Seldom knew that his hunger for making runs was only growing stronger beneath the surface. On the outside, the then-Mumbai Indians’ star showed no signs of desperation. But his desire to work on himself was so intense that he constructed a pitch in his backyard to practise. So, his three friends took it as a personal mission to help Ishan Kishan redirect his life.
Srivastav shared, “He [Ishan Kishan] was easily labelled as someone who doesn’t take playing for India seriously. People didn’t understand that. They kept saying things. But this guy, I’ve never seen anyone that mentally locked in.”
Ishan Kishan redefined himself in all areas of life. He got a coach, a nutritionist, and grew closer to God. His arm is inked with Sai Baba, and he’d carry a copy of the Bhagavad Gita in his kit bag. He added another purpose in life by starting the Ishan Kishan Academy in Patna with Srivastav. His friends turned into throwdown specialists, so he would keep hitting the ball for hours. Today, when Kishan comes on television, just by the way he swings his bat, his friends can tell if it’ll be a four or a six.
But in the following Indian Premier League season in 2024, Kishan made 320 runs. He was released by the Mumbai Indians before the IPL 2025 mega auction and shifted to Sunrisers Hyderabad. The southpaw could’ve drowned in the melancholy, but he continued to hone his powers in silence. And when he returned, he ensured all the limelight fell on him. He started making impressive red-ball returns. On his SRH debut, he struck his maiden IPL century.
Kishan then signed a short-term deal with Nottinghamshire and dazzled with 87 off 98 on debut. He also led Jharkhand to their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) last year. He top-scored the run charts with 500+ runs and two centuries.
He struck two hundreds in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 too, before finally donning the India blue on January 21 last month against New Zealand. But he managed only eight runs in the series opener, restarting talks on whether he deserves to be in the playing XI. Next game, Kishan’s 32-ball 76 reminded everyone of his firepower. In the fifth T20I, he scored his maiden hundred in the format.
It intensified discussions on Sanju Samson’s snub, as Kishan stands out as an ideal opening partner with Abhishek Sharma, also offering glovesman duties. Eventually, in the India vs South Africa warm-up match, Samson was left out for Tilak Varma, who is returning from an injury.
With the T20 World Cup 2026 beginning this week, India qualification chances appear to be in safe hands, with a formidable opener like Ishan Kishan unleashing fire with the bat.
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