‘Dhoni told me to keep up intensity’
MUMBAI: Mumbai Indians wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan on Monday stated that although he was hurt after being snubbed by selectors for India A’s tour of England, he wasn’t too bothered as he is confident he will represent the country in future.
“It does hurt because I thought I would be in the India A side. I had quite a few runs in Vijay Hazare Trophy and IPL. But it’s okay if the selectors didn’t feel that way. I can’t help that. But I can obviously focus on my performances and try and improve on my game,” said Kishan, who was the captain of the India under-19 team that qualified for the 2016 World Cup final. “I know I will represent the India team one day. I’m 100% sure about that.”
Kishan was terrific in the Vijay Hazare Trophy earlier this year, slamming 313 runs in five innings for Jharkhand at an average of 78.25. He had a modest outing with Mumbai Indians as well scoring 275 runs, but saw his batting position get tinkered towards the latter half of the season.
“I think it’s tough when you are prepared to come one-down but eventually come in to bat at No 5 but still have to do things according to your team’s requirement. You have to be prepared for every situation when you’re playing the IPL and you can’t complain later that you weren’t batting in your position,” he added further.
Mumbai Indians crashed out from the group stages itself. “I think there were a few errors that
› He (Dhoni) asked me to stay mentally tough and not get relaxed after a good game and continue with the same intensity. ISHAN KISHAN, Jharkhand keeper
we (Mumbai Indians) made this season like a few miscommunications here and there but I think we still learnt a lot from each other,” he added.
“The top order was good with Surya and Lewis giving starts but lower down the order, in a couple of matches, it was not working well. But at the end of the day, we played well.”
There was silver lining for the 19-year-old as well. “I spoke to seniors like Rohit Sharma who told me not to worry and learn as much as possible from this season so that I know how to improve next year,” he said. “I spoke to Mahi (Mahendra Singh Dhoni) bhai regarding both my batting and wicket-keeping skills. What had been happening is that once I would perform, I would often get a bit relaxed. He asked me to stay mentally tough and not get relaxed after a good game and continue with the same intensity.”