<p>New Delhi: There is a sense of calmness to Ishan Kishan's belligerence. There's still a wild streak to him — the jocular guy in the room who loves leg-pulling or throwing harmless banter. But what used to be his second nature surfaces only sporadically. He now realises there is more to his life and cricket than just fooling around. And that understanding has come the hard way.</p>.<p>A couple of years ago, fresh off scoring the fastest ODI double hundred against Bangladesh, he made a decision that did not sit well with the men who mattered.</p>.<p>Rather than correcting the course, Kishan chose defiance. He reportedly preferred training at a private academy in Vadodara instead of turning up for domestic cricket with Jharkhand, despite a directive from the Board of Control for Cricket in India.</p>.<p>What followed was a brutal reality check. A career that seemed to be soaring was suddenly grounded as an irritated BCCI removed his name from the central contract list. For a wicketkeeper-batter who had been second in line behind Rishabh Pant, the road ahead looked uncertain.</p>.<p>There were only two paths available: either wallow in self-pity or fight his way back. Kishan chose the tougher, braver option. Indian cricket is now better for it.</p>.<p>"I think I'm a changed man now, to be honest," said Kishan in his post-match comments. "I don't get into it too much, but I do enjoy jokes and everything. I do it, but earlier I used to do it 24x7, but now it's just 2-3 hours of it. So I am just focusing more on batting and my wicket-keeping which is going to help the team and which is going to help me. Everything is secondary so I am not just always joking but especially under Gauti (Gautam Gambhir) Bhai," he said while letting out a loud laughter.</p>.<p>Kishan may or may not have read Paulo Coelho, but he would surely agree with the novelist’s belief that when you truly want something, the universe finds ways to help you get there</p>.<p>He did his part first, compiling a stellar domestic season. Even then, a return to India’s T20I side appeared unlikely. Sanju Samson had cemented himself as the second-choice wicketkeeper. Shubman Gill had reclaimed an opener’s slot alongside Abhishek Sharma. Jitesh Sharma continued to impress as a finisher.</p>.<p>Yet cricket has a habit of opening doors at unexpected moments. As Kishan piled on runs in Jharkhand’s Vijay Hazare Trophy-winning campaign, Gill struggled for rhythm after the successful Samson-Abhishek opening pair was split. Dropping Gill, India’s Test and ODI captain and skipper of IPL franchise Gujarat Titans, was bold. But the selectors took the plunge.</p>.<p>Gill made way for Kishan. Rinku Singh returned as the finisher and Jitesh, for no fault of his, paid the price.</p>.<p>Even then, Kishan’s place in the World Cup XI was far from guaranteed. With Samson once again partnering Abhishek, the Jharkhand left-hander had a narrow window. The five-match series against New Zealand, the final preparation for India, became his audition.</p>.<p>Opportunity, however, arrived through misfortune. Tilak Varma was injured and missed the series. Kishan slid into the middle order and made it his own, hammering 215 runs in four matches, including a commanding century. At the same time, Samson endured five straight failures and ruled himself out of the playing XI.</p>.<p>By the time the World Cup rolled around, Kishan had done enough. And he has kept doing more.</p>.<p>Now the undisputed first-choice stumper-batter, Kishan underlined his status with another blistering knock, 61 off 24 balls with six fours and five sixes, on Thursday against Namibia.</p>.<p>It wasn't mindless slogging, though. There was a method to his madness on a slightly sticky pitch. He bided his time, sussed up the conditions and began his onslaught. He is not just a changed person now, but he has transformed as a batter too. </p>.<p>"I do take singles as well and I do defend the good balls," he emphasised. "But I don't know if I've done a very big amount of hard work or something, I just kept it simple rather than rushing into the overs or getting excited and playing those shots. I'm just trying to be calm and just trying to watch the ball and playing those shots which I already had, but sometimes you get excited and play those shots when you're playing international cricket."</p>.<p><span class="bold"><strong>"So I'm just trying to cut those moments off in my life and just try to play my own shots which I am good at and which are on, on that particular wicket. </strong></span></p>.<p><span class="bold"><strong>"So I'm not doing so much or thinking so much about batting, or getting into extra training sessions, but yeah just trying to watch the ball and be calm at the crease; two-three dot balls also it should not make a difference because I think the batters in our team they all got strength they all got that ability to hit at any point of time So it's just a matter of two balls. And for us, it's important to understand that thing also. Like, two balls, if you get two sixes, it's all covered. So we have to wait for a time rather than just throwing our wicket.</strong></span></p>.<p>What a story of self-belief and hard-learned lessons! </p>
<p>New Delhi: There is a sense of calmness to Ishan Kishan's belligerence. There's still a wild streak to him — the jocular guy in the room who loves leg-pulling or throwing harmless banter. But what used to be his second nature surfaces only sporadically. He now realises there is more to his life and cricket than just fooling around. And that understanding has come the hard way.</p>.<p>A couple of years ago, fresh off scoring the fastest ODI double hundred against Bangladesh, he made a decision that did not sit well with the men who mattered.</p>.<p>Rather than correcting the course, Kishan chose defiance. He reportedly preferred training at a private academy in Vadodara instead of turning up for domestic cricket with Jharkhand, despite a directive from the Board of Control for Cricket in India.</p>.<p>What followed was a brutal reality check. A career that seemed to be soaring was suddenly grounded as an irritated BCCI removed his name from the central contract list. For a wicketkeeper-batter who had been second in line behind Rishabh Pant, the road ahead looked uncertain.</p>.<p>There were only two paths available: either wallow in self-pity or fight his way back. Kishan chose the tougher, braver option. Indian cricket is now better for it.</p>.<p>"I think I'm a changed man now, to be honest," said Kishan in his post-match comments. "I don't get into it too much, but I do enjoy jokes and everything. I do it, but earlier I used to do it 24x7, but now it's just 2-3 hours of it. So I am just focusing more on batting and my wicket-keeping which is going to help the team and which is going to help me. Everything is secondary so I am not just always joking but especially under Gauti (Gautam Gambhir) Bhai," he said while letting out a loud laughter.</p>.<p>Kishan may or may not have read Paulo Coelho, but he would surely agree with the novelist’s belief that when you truly want something, the universe finds ways to help you get there</p>.<p>He did his part first, compiling a stellar domestic season. Even then, a return to India’s T20I side appeared unlikely. Sanju Samson had cemented himself as the second-choice wicketkeeper. Shubman Gill had reclaimed an opener’s slot alongside Abhishek Sharma. Jitesh Sharma continued to impress as a finisher.</p>.<p>Yet cricket has a habit of opening doors at unexpected moments. As Kishan piled on runs in Jharkhand’s Vijay Hazare Trophy-winning campaign, Gill struggled for rhythm after the successful Samson-Abhishek opening pair was split. Dropping Gill, India’s Test and ODI captain and skipper of IPL franchise Gujarat Titans, was bold. But the selectors took the plunge.</p>.<p>Gill made way for Kishan. Rinku Singh returned as the finisher and Jitesh, for no fault of his, paid the price.</p>.<p>Even then, Kishan’s place in the World Cup XI was far from guaranteed. With Samson once again partnering Abhishek, the Jharkhand left-hander had a narrow window. The five-match series against New Zealand, the final preparation for India, became his audition.</p>.<p>Opportunity, however, arrived through misfortune. Tilak Varma was injured and missed the series. Kishan slid into the middle order and made it his own, hammering 215 runs in four matches, including a commanding century. At the same time, Samson endured five straight failures and ruled himself out of the playing XI.</p>.<p>By the time the World Cup rolled around, Kishan had done enough. And he has kept doing more.</p>.<p>Now the undisputed first-choice stumper-batter, Kishan underlined his status with another blistering knock, 61 off 24 balls with six fours and five sixes, on Thursday against Namibia.</p>.<p>It wasn't mindless slogging, though. There was a method to his madness on a slightly sticky pitch. He bided his time, sussed up the conditions and began his onslaught. He is not just a changed person now, but he has transformed as a batter too. </p>.<p>"I do take singles as well and I do defend the good balls," he emphasised. "But I don't know if I've done a very big amount of hard work or something, I just kept it simple rather than rushing into the overs or getting excited and playing those shots. I'm just trying to be calm and just trying to watch the ball and playing those shots which I already had, but sometimes you get excited and play those shots when you're playing international cricket."</p>.<p><span class="bold"><strong>"So I'm just trying to cut those moments off in my life and just try to play my own shots which I am good at and which are on, on that particular wicket. </strong></span></p>.<p><span class="bold"><strong>"So I'm not doing so much or thinking so much about batting, or getting into extra training sessions, but yeah just trying to watch the ball and be calm at the crease; two-three dot balls also it should not make a difference because I think the batters in our team they all got strength they all got that ability to hit at any point of time So it's just a matter of two balls. And for us, it's important to understand that thing also. Like, two balls, if you get two sixes, it's all covered. So we have to wait for a time rather than just throwing our wicket.</strong></span></p>.<p>What a story of self-belief and hard-learned lessons! </p>