Ishan Kishan set the stage on fire at Wankhede Stadium with his clutch innings of 69 runs in 34 balls against Royal challengers Bengaluru (RCB). His innings included seven fours and five sixes. Ishan was equally impressive in the previous match of Mumbai Indians (MI) against Delhi Capitals (DC), in which he scored 42 runs off 23 balls.

After the match against RCB, when Ishan came to speak at the post-match press conference, he opened up about missing the Ranji Trophy and losing the central contract of BCCI.

Ishan Kishan speaks on being axed from central contract

It is worth mentioning that BCCI terminated Ishan and Shreyas Iyer’s central contracts recently. According to reports, the Board was unhappy with Ishan and Iyer for prioritizing IPL over domestic cricket; hence, these two cricketers were not included in the list of cricketers who were given central contracts by BCCI.

Before it, Ishan skipped the South African series, citing mental fatigue, and even made himself unavailable for international selection after it. Despite the Board’s requests to play in the Ranji Trophy, Ishan decided to practice for IPL and ignored the Board’s request, eventually facing punishment for it.

Talking about this, Ishan said that he was busy practicing while away from international cricket. He also said that people made many claims on social media, but these people must understand that the decisions regarding giving or cancelling the contracts of players are not controlled by any cricketer; instead, it is the Board that has the complete authority over it.

“I was practicing. When I took time off from the game, people were talking a lot. Many things came on social media. But you should also realize that many things are not in the hands of the players,” said Ishan, as quoted by the Hindustan Times.

Talking further about the change in his mindset and challenges he faced during his break, he said that he realized that T20 is a big game, and hence, it becomes very important to take proper time during play. He further explained how he handles the challenges of not performing well in the game.

“The only thing you can do is utilize the time properly, also the mindset to think about the previous Ishan Kishan, I would never leave a delivery in the first two overs even if they are bowling well. With time I have learnt that even 20 overs is a big game, you can take your time and you can go ahead. Even though we have lost matches, we want to work together as a team. Changes have come like even if I am not performing and if I know someone else is not performing, I talk to them. I want to know what they are thinking. So, these are things which helped me in the break,” the 25-year-old said.

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Ishan in IPL 2024

Ishan is currently MI’s leading run scorer. In the last five matches, he has scored 161 runs at a strike rate of 182.95, including one half-century. This top-class form makes Ishan a possible pick for the upcoming T20 World Cup. When Ishan was asked about the possibility of him playing in the World Cup, he replied by repeating his statement that these decisions are not in the player’s hands.

“About the World Cup, it is not in my hands and I am taking things very easy right now,” stated Ishan.

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