‘I have watched a lot of his highlights’ – Ishan Kishan reveals his batting idol and it’s not MS Dhoni
Young Indian opener Ishan Kishan etched his name in the history books earlier this month as he scored a sensational 210 off just 131 balls against Bangladesh in the third ODI in Chattogram. He scored the fastest double hundred in ODI history as he reached the landmark in just 126 balls shattering Chris Gayle’s record.
With his historic double, Ishan became only the fourth Indian batter and seventh male cricketer to score a double hundred in ODIs. The 24-year-old got his name in the illustrious list including the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma who achieved the milestone before Kishan.
The southpaw’s attacking style of batting has often drawn comparisons with the legendary MS Dhoni’s style in his early days. Hailing from Jharkhand, the same place where Dhoni came from, Ishan has idolized Dhoni throughout his career. But while Ishan has admired Dhoni all throughout, his idol before ‘Captain Cool’ was someone whose batting style is very similar to him, the one and only Virender Sehwag.
“Maybe I bat like this because I have watched a lot of his highlights, like the way he smashed all the bowlers – like Brett Lee, Shoaib Akhtar – whoever it was, he smacked everyone around the ground. So maybe I got that instinct from him – I want to play in attacking mode. Perhaps I got it from him. And I also used to watch Adam Gilchrist,” Ishan said on OneCricket.
I love Adam Gilchrist’s batting and his keeping skills but Dhoni bhai: Ishan Kishan
After his record-breaking 210, Ishan had mentioned that with 15 more overs to go, he could have scored a triple-century as well, but the record was not something that was at the back of his mind while batting. Similarly, Sehwag during his playing days did not care, whether he was batting on 0, 99 or even 199 for that matter and would always attack the opposition irrespective of his score.
Ishan idolised Dhoni and Gilchrist equally, but when asked to pick one, the choice was pretty obvious. “MS Dhoni for sure. I love Adam Gilchrist’s batting and his keeping skills but Dhoni bhai, I have seen him all around as in what he does on the field, off the field, the calmness and everything. The way he meets everyone. So these things also matter – how you function and getting to know how he does it and in what way. He has helped me a lot also, how to take care of yourself when you are around people,” added Ishan.
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