Duleep final: Marathon man Ishan Kishan leaves marker for red ball too
His 270 is a reflection of his focus and new-found hunger, childhood coach Uttam Majumder says
There is no doubt that Ishan Kishan has become a different player ever since he made his comeback to international cricket at the ICC T20 World Cup at home earlier this year. If he attributed his newfound calmness to meditation after emerging as one of the leading scorers of the tournament, he also looks more keen than ever to grab an opportunity with both hands — as his epic effort of 270 on Monday, 7 September in the ongoing Duleep Trophy final testifies.
Starting the second day on an overnight 111 not out, Ishan was in no mood to relent against the South Zone attack under the oppressive Chennai heat. If the idea was to bat Tilak Varma’s team out of the contest, the East Zone captain certainly led the charge.
At a personal level, the 28-year-old also wanted to lay down a strong marker for the red-ball set-up in the coming days. He combined with young Kumar Kushagra, another Jharkhand youngster, for a 230-run partnership for the fifth wicket and left a lasting impression on Ajit Agarkar & Co., who would have been catching up on all the action.
“This is a reflection of the focus and newfound hunger that he has been able to incorporate into his game over the past year or so,” remarked Uttam Majumder, Ishan’s childhood coach. Majumder, who is now based in Noida, had travelled to Chennai to watch the first two days of the Duleep final and felt his famous ward would now be pushing for a place in India’s red-ball set-up as well.
Asked about his chances with both Rishabh Pant and his understudy Dhruv Jurel in the ranks, Majumder told National Herald: “I am not surprised at such a patient innings from Ishan, as he has a number of such innings in his portfolio in domestic cricket. While he is recognised more as a white-ball specialist, it would be difficult to keep him out of the reckoning if he keeps scoring like this.”
Ishan scripted a slice of history as he became the first batter from East Zone to hit a double century in a Duleep final, overtaking the previous best of 170 by Wriddhiman Saha (East) against Central Zone in 2012. The Patna boy, incidentally, became the seventh double-centurion in a Duleep final as he joined an illustrious club featuring Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Raman Lamba, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Anshuman Gaekwad and Yusuf Pathan.
While Ishan’s innings became the toast of the Indian cricketing fraternity, Vivek Razdan — a former India pacer-turned-TV pundit — offered a word of advice to wonderboy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, urging him to take a cue from Ishan. When Ishan walked back after his marathon innings at the 250-mark, Razdan didn’t mince his words as he tipped Vaibhav: “Sooryavanshi sahab, now you have to learn from players like Ishan Kishan — once you are set, how to play a long innings. Every person who is present here at this time stood up and applauded this innings.
“Because this is not just technique, this is not just temperament, this is also match fitness. This is match fitness. To stay out there for so long in so much heat and play an innings like this. What an innings by Ishan Kishan.”
For someone who was dropped from the BCCI central contract only in 2024, with his attitude severely questioned, the keeper-batter has clearly turned a new leaf on his comeback to the big league. The challenge in the longer format is learning how to stretch that dominance across sessions when conditions, fatigue and concentration begin to test a batter differently — and this is where Ishan came out in flying colours. He returned for a late boost to the East innings once Mohammed Shami’s wicket fell, but was the ninth batter to be dismissed with his team already past the 700-mark.