Ishan Kishan says Dravid, Dhoni and Rajiv Kumar have helped him improve his game in the last year

At a very young age of 18, Ishan Kishan, the left-hander from Jharkhand is seen as the future Indian wicketkeeper and someone who can fill in for another Jharkhand player, MS Dhoni, one of India’s longest serving keepers and without a doubt the best wicketkeeper-batsman the team ever had.

Young Kishan stood in top run-getters list during the Ranji Trophy 2016-17 season with 799 runs to his name including a best of 273. Despite being 5 ft 6″ tall which is a shorter height for a cricketer, the youngster is known for his tidy work behind the wickets.

He has featured in many Indian teams of late and is happy to take more such chances which will prepare for the bigger stage. Talking exclusively to CricTracker Ishan said, “Obviously, it feels very good because it is a very good platform for a youngster to perform. We get a chance to play at the senior level if we do well here. So it is a challenge for us, to come here and perform. Everything we experience here will help us to gain the confidence and succeed at International level.”

He was part of Rest of India side for the Irani Trophy and also played against Bangladesh for India A and is set to represent them once again against the touring Australia side in a warm-up game. He spoke about the game and his plans for against the Aussies.

Also read- People tend to not give credit to the Indian spinner when they perform in India: Anil Kumble

“Playing against a team like Australia is always an excitement for a youngster. Will get to know how they bowl by watching them closely. The plan will be same. I won’t change my batting style. I will play like the way I bat. If I get the right ball to attack, I will surely go for it.”

“It is all in performance. Everyone gets to know that this guy is performing well. So all my focus is on my performance. Anyone who performs well will be in the national reckoning. It’s just the matter of how well you express yourself on the pitch.”

Ishan was signed by the Gujarat Lions in last year’s IPL auction and was retained for the 2017 season as well. Though he played quite a few matches, the youngster didn’t get much to show his case with the bat. Talking about his IPL stint, Ishan said, “Last season I was batting for 2-3 balls or sometimes after 5 wickets were down very quickly. So if I get to bat up the order, I will go and play my natural game (attacking the bowling). The most important thing is shot selection and that is what I will focus on.”

He was India’s captain during the 2016 Under 19 World Cup but had a below-par show with the bat as he managed to score just one fifty in the 6 games in the tournament. Kishan said his footwork wasn’t perfect at that time and India U19 coach, Rahul Dravid suggested him to work on it. His Jharkhand coach Rajiv Kumar helped him improve the clinch as well.

“After the World Cup, Dravid sir called me and said ‘go and work on your footwork that will help you in Ranji Trophy because you have to play big, you are not a player who can only play IPL.’ So when I came to Jharkhand, our coach Rajiv Kumar helped me a lot with my footwork along with other aspects. Whatever my plan was, I went to the field and executed it well.”

Kishan wants to work on producing consistent scores. He wants to promote a sense of confidence in his team whenever he walks out to bat. Former Indian skipper MS Dhoni also suggested him to play longer innings.

“(Thing he wants to work on) I would say consistency. When I go to bat, I want my team members to feel that he is the batsman who can control and take the innings forward and bat till the end because I don’t want to get out early and see my team suffer.”

Everything helped me a lot like what Dravid Sir said about my footwork and then Dhoni Bhai (MS Dhoni) said ‘sometimes you have to curtail your shots when you are go out to bat. So when you get set, you can go for your shots.’ I have got seniors around me who also supported me.”

During the 2015-16 Ranji season, Ishan happened to take on Saurashtra at their home on a rank turner. The youngster faced Ravindra Jadeja, who has been a revelation in the past 2 years in the longer format and had troubled each and every batsman he bowled to in International cricket. But Kishan planned for the challenge, attacked Jadeja in that game and scored 43 runs off the left-arm spinner from just 27 balls hitting 4 sixes and 2 fours.

Talking about that game, Ishan said: “The plan was if I would have let them spin the ball, it would have been difficult for me. My plan was wherever he bowls, I have to step out and don’t let the ball turn because it was turning a great deal. It wasn’t just a turning track but a rank turner.”

“I knew if I step down and hit, I can connect it well. So if I keep scoring boundaries, they will be under pressure. I wanted to go for my shots as you can’t defend on that kind of a track. So kept doing to him (Jadeja) and he was also confused and gave me boundaries through the cut shots. So when I found him on the back foot, I kept going hard and hitting him.”