IND A v SA A | Want to represent India one day, for now day-by-day process is important, says Ishan Kishan
Ishan Kishan says he hopes to represent the senior team one day, but until then he insists on focusing on the day to day process of improving his game. Kishan showed a glimpse of talent in the second one-dayer against South Africa A, hitting a 24-ball 55 in India A’s thrilling two-wicket win.
Kishan has a lot of things in common with Rishabh Pant – from both being aggressive left-hand wicket-keeper batsmen to both being touted as heirs apparent to MS Dhoni right from their U-19 days. The two have played a lot of cricket together during their junior days and served as captain and vice-captain of the Indian team that finished runners-up in the ICC U-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2016.
But, Pant outperformed Kishan in that tournament – with 267 runs in six matches, with two fifties and a hundred, in comparison to Kishan’s meagre return of 73 runs from the six matches. Ever since, Pant has been one step ahead in the race to replace Dhoni in the Indian side. And having already played 11 Tests, 12 ODIs, and 18 T20s for the country, he looks set to make the spot his own. Kishan, on the other hand, is still searching for his maiden India cap despite some consistent performances at the domestic level.
“I think it is obviously there in the back of the mind (the talk) that I have to be there in the senior team. Any youngster would want to represent the country. But at the same time, I want to focus on my process. I need to get better day-by-day. If I think a lot about senior team selection, I will only be burdening myself with additional pressure. So what I do is to keep the process going. I need to work on my consistency. When I play domestic matches or for India ‘A’, I have to keep on performing well and obviously then the selectors will pick you (to the national squad),” Kishan told TNN, reported TOI.
The Jharkhand lad promised much with his brilliant fifty in the rain-curtailed second one-day at Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday before perishing to a poor shot selection. Although it resulted in India ‘A’ suffering a mini batting collapse, Krunal Pandya saw the team through as India A took a 2-0 lead in the one-dayer series. The 21-year-old was upset with his shot-making that could’ve cost his team the game and is keen to try and finish games off the next time he is in the middle.
“You go in and get out, that’s not very disappointing. But it hurts more when you get dismissed after getting set and is batting on 40 or 50. The dressing room is hoping that you will finish the game off and then you get out in a bad manner. That’s not what the team wants from you. So you need to be there till the last ball and finish the game. I will make sure that I finish the game more often from now on,” he said.
Regarding his work behind the stumps, Kishan acknowledges that he has a lot to improve if he is to replace India’s best ever gloveman permanently.
“I spent time with More sir during IPL and he helped me a lot. I am trying to improve my keeping to the spinners and working on how to do quick stumpings like Mahi bhai. If I take his place someday in the Indian team, people will be expecting the same thing from me. I will keep working with him (Dhoni) as and when I get an opportunity. I am also working extremely hard to make sure I get better every day,” Kishan added.
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