Bulging with self-confidence, Ishan Kishan 2.0 plays lead role in RCB's butchery

As a Mumbai Indians (MI) fan, with a target of 197 on the board, the last thing you would want to see is Ishan Kishan defending a low full toss from Reece Topley on the first ball of the chase.

The dimensions at the Wankhede Stadium, coupled with the dew factor, were going to play their part. But runs on the board are, well, runs on the board, and the hosts still needed to show intent from the start. Ishan, on the other hand, seemed content in leaving the outswingers from Topley upfront. At the most, he placed a few deliveries towards the short point region.

There was a sense of uneasiness in Ishan's body language after the second delivery he faced from Mohammed Siraj wasn't given a wide. With Rohit Sharma having faced just one delivery and MI's score reading 2/0 eight balls into their innings, their fans were probably feeling a similar degree of uneasiness.

However, the southpaw instantly flicked the switch, pumping Siraj for a 77-metre six over square leg on the very next ball. Ishan's flick of the wrist in the pick-up shot helped him generate the distance, with his timing playing a crucial role as well. From there on, he just didn't look back.

The journey from 1*(7) to 69(34) gave a lot of clarity on how Ishan Kishan had begun to view his strengths and weaknesses. He departed with a flat-batted shot straight into the hands of Virat Kohli at long-on. But Kohli's non-celebration indicated that Ishan had already killed the chase.

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Ishan Kishan seems to have returned from the break as a more confident person

Leaving deliveries alone is not something Ishan Kishan did only against RCB. He did the same upfront against Delhi Capital's Khaleel Ahmed in his previous game.

While the idea in modern-day T20 cricket is to make the most of the powerplay, Ishan opened up on the importance of keeping faith in one's abilities to make up for the watchful start. The southpaw shed light on how he worked on his mindset during the break he took due to mental fatigue.

"Agar pehle ka Ishan Kishan hota to first over mein acchi bowling ho rahi hai to bhi vo leave nahi karta (The Ishan Kishan of old may not have left the deliveries upfront even if the bowlers were doing well). But I have learned the 20-over game is long enough to take your time, have self-belief and take the game forward," Ishan told reporters.

Ishan went after similar deliveries from Topley that he had left in his opening overs. The difference? Being aware that the swing would last only for about a couple of overs. Instead of going after the swinging ball from the get-go and risking losing his wicket, the southpaw trusted his ability to make up, especially with a set target.

He greeted Siraj in his second over with a pull shot over square leg and hit another incredible six in the space of two balls, this time over the point boundary. On both occasions, RCB had deep fielders in place. However, all they could do was see the ball sail over their heads comfortably.

Ishan's blitz allowed Rohit to take some time initially before he joined the fun, depositing a delivery from Siraj over mid-wicket nonchalantly.

Faf du Plessis then brought off-spinner Glenn Maxwell into the attack as a potential negative match-up for the southpaw. However, that didn't matter to Ishan as he welcomed Maxwell with two boundaries and a six in his first over.

Rohit Sharma (38 off 24), Suryakumar Yadav (52 off 19), and Hardik Pandya (21* off six) all played their part in bulldozing the RCB bowling line-up. However, Ishan Kishan set the tone at the top and broke the spirits of the visitors with his carnage.

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T20 World Cup - how big a chance does Ishan Kishan have?

MI skipper Hardik Pandya, during the post-match presentation on Thursday, talked about how pleased he was that Mumbai scored 234 in their previous game without any player reaching his half-century. They are evidently focusing on impactful knocks over longer ones.

Ishan Kishan's half-century against RCB was the first for him this season. However, he has given explosive starts in most of his outings so far in IPL 2024 with 161 runs at an incredible strike rate of 182.95, in line with what Hardik said about the team mindset.

The fact that Ishan keeps wickets also raises the question of whether he is still in contention for the T20 World Cup despite not getting a central contract. How does he impact the balance of the Indian side if he manages to make a comeback?

Senior players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya pick themselves in India's T20 World Cup playing XI. That leaves the spot open for just two more batters unless they look at Hardik as a fifth bowler in the West Indies and the USA.

Out of these two spots, one could be Rinku Singh's, given his upward curve coupled with India's issues in the finishing department. This means specialist openers like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Ruturaj Gaikwad have close to no chance of making it to the XI. The only reason Ishan Kishan may have a better shot at making it than the names mentioned above is his ability to keep wickets.

The southpaw has already opened a lot with Rohit Sharma and the duo complement each other well as seen in the chase against RCB. If India decide to open with Rohit and Kohli and want their wicketkeeper-batter to bat at three, it could then become a face-off between Ishan and Sanju Samson.

Ishan has a decent record at No. 3 with back-to-back fifties for India against Australia in their T20I series last year. However, Sanju has set the IPL 2024 on fire with 246 runs at an average of 82 so far and a strike rate of 157.69. However, there's another caveat.

Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya have currently been batting at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, for the Mumbai Indians. If India feel this is the best position for the duo at the T20 World Cup, they will want their wicketkeeper to bat even lower in the order, opening up the possibility for the likes of Rishabh Pant, Jitesh Sharma, and even the veteran Dinesh Karthik, who is in red-hot form.

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In short, the competition for spots is intense, and even with performances, the players' fate depends on where the Indian management sees a gap in their batting line-up. The only thing Ishan Kishan and others in contention can do, for now, is continue giving impactful performances and focus on the controllables.

"Statement victory" read the caption of Ishan Kishan's latest Instagram post. However, the southpaw's blitzkrieg was a statement in itself to the Indian selectors that he was back, brimming with confidence and better than ever.