Happy headache for think tank as Kishan shows form

Dropping Kishan from the 11 has become difficult overnight, especially with T20 World Cup nearing

- Somshuvra Laha

Second chances don't come by easily in Indian cricket. Not when one is sent to the back of the conveyor belt of talent that is the Indian cricket pool. Even if he happens to have an ODI double hundred, that too the fastest in history. Earning a shot at redemption by dint of domestic performance is a high-stakes punt these days. But Ishan Kishan took it anyway, grinding it out the only way he knew and was told. Then with Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma's dismissals in three balls on Friday came another chance, this one of a lifetime. And now Kishan might not have to look back again.

Dissect him any way you want, Kishan is already a double format monster, only it wasn't impressed upon us consistently. He was partly to blame, having made himself unavailable for India for the better part of 2024. That decision didn’t sit well with the selectors. Kishan lost out on a central contract, prompting Rahul Dravid to ask him to go back to scoring heavily in domestic cricket and force the selectors’ hands. He did exactly that.

The maiden IPL hundred—off just 45 balls—for Sunrisers Hyderabad last year made for a compelling opening argument. And then when Kishan extended that form into the Ranji Trophy and Jharkhand’s maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy win — he scored 517 runs at a strike rate of 197.32 with two hundreds — the selectors had no option but to pick him for the T20 World Cup.