Ishan Kishan's 3 funniest on and off-field moments

Team India wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan is celebrating his 25th birthday on Tuesday, July 18. One of the most talented batters from India’s current crop of young cricketers, Kishan has already represented India in one Test, 18 ODIs, and 27 T20Is.

He made his international debut in a T20I against England in March 2021. It was a memorable debut as he walked away with the Player of the Match award for scoring 56 off 32 balls as the Men in Blue chased down 165 with ease. In 27 T20Is, the southpaw has scored 653 runs at an average of 25.11 and a strike rate of 122.74.

Like his T20I debut, Kishan also scored a half-century in his first ODI match, smashing 59 off 42 against Sri Lanka in Colombo in July 2021. In December 2022, he broke the record for the fastest ODI double hundred, reaching the landmark in 126 balls in a match against Bangladesh in Chattogram. He ended up scoring 210 off 131 balls.

Apart from his batting, Kishan is also known for having a good sense of humor. In this birthday special feature, we look back at three of his funniest moments on and off the cricket field.

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#1 Kishan’s hilarious stump mic antics in his debut Test

Ishan Kishan batting on his Test debut. (Pic: BCCI)

Kishan did not have much to do with the bat in his debut Test against West Indies in Dominica recently. He scored 1* off 20 balls as India declared on 421/5 in their first innings. And while he was impressive behind the stumps, it was the noise he made with his cheeky comments that grabbed the limelight.

The stump mic picked up quite a few witty and some rather bizarre remarks passed by the debutant keeper-batter. Before the start of the 65th over of West Indies’ innings, he was heard ‘warning’ a fielder to be wary of skipper Rohit Sharma.

He commented:

"Rohit bhai (Rohit Sharma) phir gaali denge tereko (Rohit Sharma will then abuse you)."

That’s not all. He was even heard giving instructions to Virat Kohli.

The stump mic caught him saying:

“Virat bhai, thoda sa sidha bas. Yash thoda sidha [Virat, Yash please move a bit straighter].”

These and a number of videos of Kishan’s other stump mic moments went viral on social media during the first Test between India and West Indies in Dominica.

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#2 When Ishan Kishan joined Shubman Gill and Yuzvendra Chahal in a hilarious viral reel

Ishan Kishan loves being part of fun reels.

In February this year, Shubman Gill, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Kishan appeared in a viral video on Instagram after India’s T20I series victory against New Zealand.

The trio attempted to parody the popular TV show Roadies. Gill enacted the role of a contestant, while Chahal and Kishan acted as judges.

In the clip, Kishan is an extremely ‘angry’ avatar. He has a go at Gill, questioning his lack of intensity and passion as a contestant. He is also seen jumping in a funny manner and then ‘slapping’ Gill.

The video was loved by fans and teammates as well, with a number of them posting laughter emojis in response to the viral clip.

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#3 Kishan’s amusing interpretation of Dhoni’s hand gestures

Ishan Kishan (left) and MS Dhoni (Pics: BWC & Getty Images)

During his appearance on the popular chat show "Breakfast with Champions", Kishan opened up on how he was completely clueless over MS Dhoni’s trademark hand gestures with regards to field placing when he was new to the Jharkhand team.

The 25-year-old recalled that he had no idea was Dhoni was trying to convey and felt completely lost out in the middle.

The keeper-batter told the chat show host Gaurav Kapur:

“When I joined the Vijay Hazare team, I was in Dhoni bhai’s side. And I was fielding at third man. Suddenly, the strike changed and Dhoni bhai was like (imitating Dhoni’s hand gestures). I was like ‘yeh kya ho gaya?’ (What just happened right now?). I had no idea where I had to move. I then asked the slip fielder, ‘Brother, can you ask him where I should go? Even then, Dhoni was like (imitating Dhoni’s hand gestures again). I was like ‘kidhar jau bhai main?’ (Where should I go now?).”

Kishan made his first-class debut for Jharkhand in 2014. In 49 first-class matches, he has scored 2986 runs at an average of 38.77. He has also played 91 List A games, scoring over 3000 runs at an average of 37.76.