India and Mumbai Indians keeper-batter Ishan Kishan opened up on taking a break from cricket and his thoughts behind bagging the spot in the squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup in June. Kishan, who slammed a brilliant 69 off 39 balls against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2024 the other night, said many things are not in his hands and that he plans to enjoy his cricket.
During the South Africa tour late last year, Ishan asked BCCI not to consider him for selection as he decided to take a break from the game for personal reasons. The left-handed batter remained away from the game until March, missing the Afghanistan T20Is and the home Test series against England. He, however, returned to play the DY Patil Cup before joining Mumbai Indians camp for IPL 2024.
ALSO READ | IPL 2024: Ishan, Bumrah earn statement win for Mumbai Indians at Wankhede as RCB crumble to fifth defeat
This season, Ishan is Mumbai’s top run-getter thus far, with 161 runs from five games at 182.95.
Meanwhile, with the squad selection date for the 2024 T20 World Cup around the corner, Ishan is not worried about his selection, saying he is happy to take one game at a time, and is unwilling to overstep in a two-month tournament like the IPL.
“About the World Cup, it is not in my hands and I am taking things very easy right now,” Ishan said. “You have to take one match at a time. One needs to understand that a lot is not in the hands of the players.
“It [the IPL] is a long big tournament and you do not want to overstep. I am just taking one game at a time and [my motto is] however I can help the team, let’s do it,” the youngster added.
Reason behind taking break from cricket
Amid several speculations as to why he took a break from cricket at a time when Indian cricket was getting over the 2023 World Cup final loss, Ishan said, “I was practising [during the break]. When you take a break, people gossip about it a lot, they say a lot of things on social media. But I feel it’s important to understand not everything is in players’ hands. We can only make the best use of the break. This is what adopting a good mindset is,”
While Pant was away at that time recovering (from the injuries he suffered in a road accident), India picked Jitesh Sharma as keeper for Afghanistan T20Is. In the Test series against England, the BCCI selectors picked KS Bharat for the first two Tests before naming Dhruv Jurel as his replacement for the remaining three games.
However, considering the 20-team-tournament in the Caribbean and the USA, the selectors will have plenty of options in the keeper’s category to choose from, with Sanju Samson and KL Rahul emerging as top contenders for the spot in the final 15.
You can now write for Baazigarnews.com and be a part of the Baazigar family. Share your stories and opinions with us here.
