News

A pre-training chat with Ishan Kishan: “I must watch the ball properly!”

By Mumbai Indians

A 56 (32) on his T20I debut, including bringing up his half century with a six, another 59 (42) in his ODI debut, entering the arena with a six - Ishan Kishan seems to have had a great year so far, with some extra liking to hitting a few out of the park!

Sure, Ishan Kishan has made a strong impression. But he is raring to go, training everyday, and leaving no stone unturned to get better with every step. The Jharkhand boy is currently with the Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi and has started training for the second half of IPL 2021.

We bring to you an exclusive interview with Ishan from the Mumbai Indians dressing room as he gets padded up for his daily practice.

Training plan

Going into training with a plan always helps keep one focused on their goals, and Ishan is doing just that, having gotten feedback from his coaches at the MI camp.

“From what I’ve spoken with the coaches, they’ve just asked me to watch the ball properly. They haven’t asked me to change my game or anything. They just said, ‘when you bat, from the very first ball, make sure you’re focussed and you watch the ball properly’.”

We know he loves going for first-ball sixes. But does he do that always, even during the nets? “No, it’s not like I always go for a first-ball six. But I know my game. I may or may not be in a positive mindset on the very first ball. In a lot of matches it so happens that you go in and think to yourself to just play the ball a little before settling down and hitting big. But that is not my game.”

“It’s the opposite for me. As soon as I go in, I need to middle the ball. That’s why I’ve been told that if this is my game plan, I must remain focused from the first ball, keep watching the ball and middle it. That is why this advice has been given to me, and I will look to do that,” Ishan said. 

Training chit-chat

Ishan loves a bit of a chit-chat in the training session. His training videos are proof of how much he loves pushing the net bowlers not just with his big hits, but with his words too. He opened up about why he has so much to say during practice.

“I keep enquiring what the field is when the bowler is bowling. Otherwise, when I play a good shot, without letting me know beforehand, they will just tell me that there was a fielder there the next time I hit in the same place. I think I deserve to know what’s going on. So I keep asking the bowlers what the field is and how they’ve changed it with every delivery,” Ishan explained, moving on to pick his weapon of choice for the day’s training.

Bat picking before training

As he rummages through his collection of bats to decide a pick for the day’s training session, we wonder if he has his bats marked that help him know which he wants to use on the particular day.

“No, I don’t keep my bats marked to know which I’ve to use. But yes, I always know which is the one I have to pick. My debut bat is not with me here. I’ve sent it to SG because I want three more bats just like that to play with. If you own a lot of bats too, you get confused. You don’t know which to play with. Now I’m confused as to which bat to play with!”

“Let me just pick a new bat today, what say? All my bats have the text “Om Sai Nath” written on it because I believe in him. I ask them to put it on my bat because I like it, it gives me confidence.”

It was exciting to know what goes on in the mind of the pocket dynamo before a training session. We can claim to know some ingredients of the broth cooking in there now, ready to come flaring at bowlers later in the nets!