Ishan Kishan Responds To BCCI Contracts Snub, Ranji Trophy Participation Saga, Says 'Many Things...'

Ishan Kishan came up with a heroic batting performance as Mumbai Indians clinched their second win of the IPL 2024.

Mumbai Indians defeated Royal Challengers Bengaluru by seven wickets in match 25 of the IPL 2024 at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, April 11.

Ishan Kishan scored 69 runs in just 34 balls on the back of seven fours and five sixes.

After the match, Kishan was asked about the controversial few weeks ahead of the IPL during which his future in the Indian team came under heavy doubt.

“I was practising. When I took time off from the game, people were talking a lot. Many things came on social media. But you should also realize that many things are not in the hands of the players,” Ishan said.

Notably, Kishan decided to withdraw from the South Africa series citing mental fatigue and reportedly made himself unavailable for the Indian side in the next few months.

He was seen preparing for the IPL with his MI skipper Hardik Pandya despite head coach Rahul Dravid and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah urging him to play Ranji Trophy.

The board then decided to come up with a reported warning through a letter to centrally-contracted players to not prioritise Indian Premier League (IPL) over domestic cricket.

Kishan, along with Shreyas Iyer was then not considered for the BCCI central contract for the period between October 2023 and September 2024.

“There is nothing like that [that] I want to prove to someone,” he said. “I just have to go there and enjoy. I have learned that you do not have to add pressure on yourself about these things, which are not in your hand. You have to figure out what are [your] controllable and what are [your] uncontrollable,” said Kishan as he stood against proving anything to anyone.

The wicketkeeper-batter went on to open up about a shift in his mindset during the low phases of his career.

“The only thing you can do is utilise the time properly. Also, the mindset to think about the previous Ishan Kishan, I would never leave a delivery in the first two overs even if they are bowling well. With time I have learnt that even 20 overs is a big game, you can take your time and you can go ahead. Even though we have lost matches, we want to work together as a team. Changes have come like even if I am not performing and if I know someone else is not performing, I talk to them. I want to know what they are thinking. So these are things which helped me in the break,” he further added.