Ishan Kishan double century: A compelling argument for an Indian cricket team refresh

Ishan Kishan had played for India only 30 times before the double-ton against Bangladesh on December 10, 2022. (Image via Twitter/@IshanKishan51)

From the embers of the misery of one player rises the road to superstardom of another. If you aren’t convinced, just ask Ishan Kishan.

In Bangladesh more for the experience and the ride, the pint-sized left-hander was unexpectedly thrust into the forefront when skipper Rohit Sharma was forced to miss Saturday’s final One-Day International against the hosts with a badly injured thumb. Ishan Kishan , 24, grabbed his opportunity with both hands in a telling demonstration of the mayhem he can unleash when he marries his unfettered ball-bashing with prudence and a judiciousness that hasn’t always been his natural ally.

In becoming only the fourth Indian batsman to post a double-hundred in 50-over internationals, the young man from Jharkhand has ventured where few before him have. In doing so in fewer deliveries than any player, male or female, in the world means it will be difficult to continue to overlook his credentials, especially when India are struggling to match talk with deeds, when the desire to be intrepid and fearless keeps smashing into a roadblock of past reputation and misplaced hope.

Kishan’s ferocious 210, off a mere 131 deliveries, is the ultimate reminder of the power of belief and self-confidence. For a while now, the former Under-19 star has threatened to make good on the promise and potential that singled him out for greater things, but often, he has been his worst enemy. In some ways, he is the classic example of trying too hard – and such a thing does exist, in case one is wondering. Despite possessing all the shots in the book and many outside of it, he seemed like a young man in a hurry, sacrificing balance and shape for power and trying to smash the ball when even caressing it in the gaps would also produce the same four runs.

Now, with this monumental effort, Kishan has learnt first-hand that there is another way to skin the cat, too. In some ways, he was fortunate that Bangladesh’s bowlers fed his strengths, giving him too much width early on that allowed him to free his arms and put them away with disdain. But the really good ones are those that make their own luck, and having got off to a start, Kishan kept teeing off with a regularity that shocked teammates, coaching staff and rivals alike.

Unlike the touch artists who twirl their wrists this way and that and coax rather than batter the ball, Kishan has no time for aesthetics. He is an unapologetic bruiser, packing quite a punch for such a small man, and has a penchant for taking the aerial route, especially on the on-side, against pacers and spinners alike. His signature stroke is the crunch through and behind point at the first hint of width, a stroke he unleashed very early in his innings against Ebadot Hossain. The shot of the day – and of an innings full of those bordering on the breath-taking – was an inside-out cover drive against the off-spin of Mehidy Hasan Miraz after nonchalantly moving in his crease and making enough room to free his arms.

The immediate temptation will be to write this off as a once-in-a-lifetime effort, but Kishan’s cricketing lifetime has barely started, lest it should be forgotten. Including Saturday’s career-rewriting epic, he has played just 31 times for the country in the two white-ball formats. Sporadically, he has offered glimpses of how much damage he can unleash, but in one of the unavoidable fallouts of a vibrant pool to choose from, he hasn’t had a run long enough to convert occasional bursts of brilliance into more consistent and meaningful contributions. He won’t be the only one hoping that, in light of this record-shattering double-ton, he won’t have to wait for injuries or players taking breaks to get a decent string of matches.

It's not often that a Virat Kohli hundred becomes a sideshow, much less a footnote, and not when he has made an ODI century for the first time in 40 months. Then again, it was that kind of Saturday, an afternoon when everything else paled into insignificant nothingness. When Kishan reached 200, 15 overs were left in the Indian innings. Given the astonishing ease with which he was finding, and clearing, the ropes, a first ever ODI triple-hundred appeared within reach but that wasn’t to be. The cricketing Gods are kind sometimes, but they don’t dole out freebies every day, do they?

It's unlikely that Kishan’s blitzkrieg will not have shaken up the core management group within the Indian set-up. A decided investment in proven performers, even if some of them are flirting with their sell-by-dates, at the expense of fresh legs, young blood and, more importantly, a singular lack of deflating baggage of the past, has left India without a global title for nine and a half years now. For all the talk about the depth of Indian cricket and the embarrassment of riches at the disposal of Rohit and head coach Rahul Dravid, India haven’t been able to make much headway in multi-team competitions because they have continued to carry a conservative batting mindset inside their kitbags.

The stunning evolution of Suryakumar Yadav has suggested that it’s time to veer away from the past, however glorious it might have been, but for every half a step India seemed to take forward, they chose to take one whole step back. That has manifested itself in team selections, conservative and traditional when a plethora of exciting, unorthodox and effective riches has made itself available. While it is true that there is no substitute for experience, it’s worth remembering that India had no experience to speak about – they had played just one international game – when they won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007. Sometimes, it’s worth a punt or three when the tried-and-tested system refuses steadfastly to throw up results. After all, it’s impossible to expect different results when one follows the same processes.

For reasons beyond the obvious, Kishan’s magnum opus could yet be the best thing that’s happened to Indian cricket in a long time. A frenetic century could have been easy to ignore, maybe, but by the sheer volume of runs scored at an unprecedented pace, he now commands a decent look-in. Apart from furthering his own cause, Kishan has also made a case for the likes of Suryakumar, Deepak Hooda and Sanju Samson, among others. Once again, a problem of plenty seems to be staring the brains-trust in the face but unlike in the past where they chose to look beyond it and turn to the obvious, the pressure on them to invest more, and more vigorously, in the new is immense. For that alone, Kishan must take a bow, even though he has 210 other reasons to do so as well.