Chennai: In less than 24 hours, Ishan Kishan Almost three years after sealing off an IPL playoff spot for Sunrisers Hyderabad, they have regained their place in India’s ODI setup.Just a day after producing a fluent ‘player of the match’ performance in SRH’s five-wicket win against (70 off 47b; 7×4, 3×6) Chennai Super Kings On a slow pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, the wicketkeeper-batsman was included in the Indian squad for the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan in place of Rishabh Pant. Ironically, the last ODI Ishaan played for India was also against Afghanistan in October 2023, before his career went through a tumultuous phase. What followed was a classic comeback arc. Ishan grinded out the domestic grind, forced his way back into the international fold, and was instrumental in India’s T20 World Cup victory.And during the T20 World Cup, the handsome southpaw said he was a “changed man now”. This newfound maturity formed the basis of his knock against CSK on Monday.Arriving at number 3 in the third over of the chase, on a deck where the ball wasn’t coming easily to the bat, Ishan continued his innings brilliantly. Heinrich Klassen. When he fell in the 19th over, SRH were just six runs away from sealing a play-off berth.“When I was capping, I felt that the level was not going to be easy. I felt that chasing that total (181) would be a bit too much. As a No. 3 batsman, I felt that my job was just to try and finish the game. So, it was just to stay there and believe in myself. Sometimes the situation is tough, but we all know how these games are won, as long as you need to play it easy, I believe. He needs to play the last overIshan said after the match.SRH assistant coach James Franklin also praised the southpaw’s effort. “I think Ishaan has been brilliant for us this season. So far in this year’s IPL, it was probably his best innings because the conditions were different from the smooth surfaces we play on. “The batsmen had to prepare their innings differently today and I thought Ishaan’s innings was just full of maturity,” said the Kiwi.
Ishan rubbed salt in CSK’s wounds.
After pushing CSK to the brink, Ishan signaled a sea of yellow feathers to pour out before rubbing more salt into their wounds by whistling towards the Chepak crowd. These events quickly went viral and spawned a lot of jokes online. Later in the night, he twisted the knife further on Instagram: “The only thing louder than the whistles was the bat. In the playoffs,” read his caption.
