Ishan Kishan’s comeback story is one for the ages. Holding the record for the fastest double century in ODI history, Ishan was stripped off the BCCI Central contract list in 2024, but the youngster went back to domestic cricket, embraced the grind, scored truckloads of runs and recently made his way back into the Indian squad for the New Zealand series and T20 World Cup. Immediately upon his return, Ishan made his intentions clear, smashing 76, 28 and 103 in his first three matches, after which it shouldn’t come as a surprise if he is the one chosen to open alongside Abhishek Sharma at the World Cup.
After being in and out of the team for years, Ishan finally finds himself in a good place. However, it wasn’t the case a few years ago. Rewind to 2021, and Ishan was in the middle of a terrible form slump for the Mumbai Indians. Just the year before, Ishan had set the IPL on fire, scoring 516 runs, including an insane 99-run knock against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, but failed to replicate that run the next season. With 241 runs from 10 matches, Ishan appeared ‘a broken young man’ as Ian Bishop pointed out on air after a game between MI and RCB, when none other than the great Virat Kohli walked up, had a chat and tried to console the distraught Indian batter.
The visuals of Ishan sitting helplessly after his knock nearly saw MI through against RCB in 2020 were nothing compared to his body language standing next to Kohli. Ishan recalled how Kohli’s words came at the right time, revealing he fought back tears as Kohli spoke to him.
“I was very sad during another match. Remember a video had come, where I was on the verge of crying before Virat bhai consoled me. Bas kisi tarah se aansu roke huye thhe (I just somehow managed to hold back tears). He [Virat] must have seen me just lying there. Poor kid; he probably must be thinking too much,” Ishan said on the 2 Sloggers Podcast.
And as fate would have it, the very next year, Kohli was at the non-striker’s end when Ishan entered the history books by blasting a double hundred off just 121 balls, and breaking Chris Gayle’s record in the process. Ishan and Kohli added 290 runs for India’s second wicket.
