Will be happy if able to achieve even 70% of what MS Dhoni has for India: Ishan Kishan

Ishan Kishan does not need any introduction after his record-breaking double hundred in ODI cricket in Bangladesh. Moneycontrol spoke to the maverick batsman in Ranchi where he scored another scintillating hundred for his state Jharkhand against Kerala last week. Edited excerpts of the interview.

Do you pinch yourself on what happened just a few weeks ago in Bangladesh?

Yes sometimes I do, I can’t deny that, ok yes I have hit a double century and now I have my name with Sachin (Tendulkar) Paji, Veeru (Virender Sehwag) Paji and Rohit (Sharma) Bhai, so I want to make more double hundreds for the same time. I do feel special sometimes when I think about scoring that double hundred against Bangladesh.

You had said it could have been a triple hundred…

I know, there were still another 15 overs to go so right now when I watch my (match) highlights I think 15 overs were there, maybe I could have gone for 300 but I think my wrist was gone by that time.

In that sense, Virendra Sehwag must be your inspiration during your growing up years and Veeru first time in Test Cricket missed a double hundred at MCG, then he scored a triple hundred first time in Test cricket for India, then again, another triple hundred …because your batting is like his, if not today then next time, there is always a next time for someone like you…

May be I bat like him (Sehwag) because I watch lots of his highlights. Like the way, he smacked all the bowlers whoever it was…Bret Lee, Shoaib Akhtar, he smacked everyone around the ground so maybe I got that instinct from him to play in an attacking mode and I also liked watching Gilchrist a lot.

So who has been a bigger inspiration Gilchrist or MS Dhoni?

MS Dhoni for sure, yes I love his (Gilchrist) batting and wicket-keeping but MS bhai, I have seen him all around, on the field, off the field. So the calmness, the way he meets everyone, how he functions, how to know it from a big player, how you function in your life, these things are important too. So Mahi bhai helped me a lot, like to make me realise how to carry yourself when you are around so many people.

It must not have been easy for a young Ishan Kishan growing up in Jharkhand being a wicket-keeper batsman, everyone calling you the next MSD, how have you dealt with that kind of expectation?

I think I take it in a very positive way, if people are comparing me with Mahi Bhai that means I have something in me to be compared with him. I think I will be happy if I can achieve even 70 percent of what MS bhai has done for our country…He has won T20 WC, Champions Trophy, ODI World Cup, even I would like to be in that position and make my team win.

What role Mumbai Indians has played in your evolution as a cricketer?

Mumbai Indians has helped me a lot, in a way how to deal with pressure situations also because they were so many big players in the team and I got to learn so much from Sachin Sir and Rohit bhai, Hardik bhai, they were so on point, even Polly (Shaun Pollock) I think he has a great mind. I used to talk about these things when I was not doing well also. I’m not talking about the result like me, my work ethic in the ground, Hardik bhai would pull my leg or get me in my zone where I start working hard. These things also mattered to me a lot where I knew that such a big player is putting in so much effort to improve. These things helped me a lot, I don’t know but if I was in any other team I would’ve noticed these little things there too.

A lot of people these days talk about the fierce competition amongst the wicket keepers like there is your friend Rishabh Pant, then there is Sanju Samson, what kind of conversation do you guys have?

You just try to help out each other like how you can be a better player because at end of the day all of us know that we are playing for the country. So if India wins we are happy about it, it’s not that I scored a hundred or Sanju scored a hundred or Rishabh scored a hundred. So we just think about helping each other if we have any doubt we talk to each other about it. It’s not like we are always in that mode that ok he is scoring runs, we have to focus on ourselves and how we can win matches for our country by getting better day by day.

Life has changed since that double hundred, you must be looking forward to the Sri Lanka series…has Ishan Kishan changed as a player?

Not as a player, I am still the same player, you know when I completed the double hundred the next day my mom called me and said forget about your yesterday’s achievement and focus on my next target, you are going for the Ranji Trophy match focus on it and score a hundred there.