The white-ball dynamo

By Rakesh Pandey
Ishan Kishan-This man needs no more introduction today in the world of cricket as he again showed why he is so special. In one of the most iconic clashes of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2026 between India and Pakistan, he stood apart from others taking India to a comprehensive win. On a slow, spin-friendly pitch at the Premadasa Stadium Colombo Kishan rose above the conditions to hit a sensational 77 off 40 balls to take India to a total that proved well beyond Pakistan.
A pitch where every other player struggled, kishan came to the party and toyed with the opposition bowlers striking hard with elegance. His innings included 13 boundaries with 10 fours and 3 sixes. On the other hand the rest of the Indian batters managed only 12 boundaries in total and Pakistan’s innings ended up with only 15 boundaries (12 fours and 3 sixes).
I have known Ishan for nearly a decade now and have seen him working so hard for his game. He is not new to international cricket but is better known for his efforts in franchise cricket than in international. A natural striker of the ball he hits big sixes and scores big hundreds once he gets a start. He has all the cricketing shorts, perfect timing and temperament to become a big star in future.
More than a decade into his career, he has played close to 230 T20s but just around 40 of those for his country. This is because Rishabh Pant has always been preferred over him when it comes to picking up a wicket-keeper in the squad. But even on some given opportunities he has grabbed the chances with both hands and scored heavily to keep the selectors interested. For me he has nothing more to prove to cement his place in the squad, at least in the white-ball format.
Kishan’s international white-ball debuts came in 2021 and he made fifties in his first match in both formats. In the following year he hit the jackpot, making three T20I fifties in the space of five games against Sri Lanka and South Africa and then in December he scored a swashbuckling 210 in an away ODI against Bangladesh. In the middle of 2023 he scored four back-to-back half centuries but still managed to play only two games in the World Cup in October. With a strike rate of over 100 in ODIs and nearly 150 in T20Is and the ability to send the ball flashing to the boundary he can be a perfect batting partner to Abhishek Sharma at the start of the innings. With both explosive left-handers at the opening, India can march past any opposition on any given day.
Kishan has two IPL titles with Mumbai Indians, for whom he played for three seasons in which he scored over 400 runs apiece, including 516 in the year 2020 when they defended their title successfully. The boy who has scripted so many memorable wins for different teams over the years with his powerful batting, needs to be given a fairly long run with the Indian national team- this is what I believe.
It’s time for the Indian selectors to show faith and start believing in this explosive powerhouse.
It was just some days ago when BCCI announced its central contract of players and did not considered Ishan. The contract featured 30 players across Category A, B and C. However, Ishan Kishan BCCI contract status remains unchanged, does not he deserve a central contract?
Rakesh Pandey is a senior sports journalist and former Editor of Cricket Today, now a web portal crictoday