Will Ishan Kishan’s red-ball story be as dramatic as MS Dhoni’s was? 

File image of cricketer Ishan Kishan in action (Image Source: AFP)

Like his iconic predecessor from Jharkhand, Ishan Kishan’s first love is white-ball cricket. MS Dhoni played nearly 100 Test matches for India while Kishan is belatedly getting some lucky chances to represent the national side in red-ball cricket as well.

Had Rishabh Pant been fit and available and KL Rahul not been ruled out for the one-off Test in London, the Mumbai Indians wicketkeeper-batsman would not have been taking the flight for the World Test Championship final against Australia.

By naming Kishan, the second keeper after the young KS Bharat, the Indian selectors have been consistent with their thought process as the Patna-born cricketer was also in the squad for the Border-Gavaskar Test series that preceded the Indian Premier League.

And yet, it wasn’t as straightforward a selection as it may sound. Fans are divided over Kishan’s selection as many felt that Sanju Samson and Wriddhiman Saha deserved that call-up equally. Samson for a Test in England is an extreme position considering the fact that the Kerala player doesn’t keep regularly for his state in first-class cricket. Saha has been in terrific touch with the bat in the ongoing IPL for the Gujarat Titans and his wicket keeping skill and experience make him the best available keeper batsman right now in India.

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A day before the selection, Saba Karim (former Test wicketkeeper and selector) threw his weight behind Saha. And his backing was echoed by none other than Anil Kumble (former India captain and coach) on social media platform Twitter. However, it is well known that current head coach Rahul Dravid had already conveyed to Saha that Indian cricket has moved on from him. So, it is not entirely a surprising call given that there is no chief selector and Dravid’s words carry more significance than some of the new selectors in the current line-up.

U-19 connection

Incidentally, Kishan and Dravid also go back a long way. It was at Dravid’s insistence that the Jharkhand keeper was given the captaincy during the Under-19 World Cup in 2016, ahead of Rishabh Pant. Besides his ability as a keeper-batsman, Dravid, as the U-19 coach, was also impressed by Kishan’s soft skills and leadership potential. After Kishan scored a stunning maiden double hundred in Bangladesh, this writer had gone to Ranchi to interview him and was impressed by the honesty in his thoughts, which is rare in modern cricketers. Even though he admitted that he prefers white-ball cricket and the role of a batsman, he had no hesitation in choosing the option of a Test triple hundred as the ultimate accomplishment.

However, it won’t be easy for the 24-year-old to make his debut in England. The left-handed Kishan has only featured in 48 First Class games since his debut for Jharkhand nearly a decade ago as a precocious talent. Over the last four years, the likes of Saha, Bharat and young Upendra Yadav have played 15 First Class matches with the India A side, while Kishan has played in just two matches during that phase.

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An unexpected selection

Astonishingly, Kishan played purely as a batter for his home team, Jharkhand, in the 2022-23 season. And yet, as luck would have it, he was first part of the Border-Gavaskar squad and now the WTC squad. If anyone can potentially offer 50 percent of what Pant was capable of as a lower-order keeper and game changing batsman, it is Kishan. To gamble for just a one-off Test is not entirely a misplaced thought by Indian selectors even though KS Bharat looks the favourite to make it to the playing XI. If India eventually includes Kishan for the Oval Test starting from June 7, it will clearly indicate that they have gone with the bold approach against the Australians.

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As captain, Dhoni has been part of T20 and ODI World Cup winning sides but never got an opportunity to play in the WTC final (it started after he retired). Throughout his formative years, Kishan had to endure the burden of comparisons with Dhoni but later got used to it. He knew that no one could possibly be as good as Dhoni but had a different philosophy to deal with it, as he told this writer; “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 the T20 WC, Champions Trophy, ODI World Cup, even I would like to be in that position and make my team win,” Kishan told this writer in Ranchi in December 2022. He may perhaps not even have dreamt that six months down the line destiny would conspire to give him a potential opportunity to achieve what even the iconic Dhoni doesn’t have in his CV, A WTC medal.

So, will Ishan Kishan’s red-ball story be as dramatic as Dhoni’s was? We will know the answer a month from now.