Prodigal Ishan Kishan picks the right stage for a ton, but will it help?

'The curious case of Ishan Kishan' is perhaps the only way to explain the rise and fall of this dashing wicketkeeper-batter, hailed as a potential understudy to Rishabh Pant not so long ago. Despite being out of favour with the national selectors since a T20I series against Australia back in November 2023, something of his own doing, the 27-year-old seems to have realised that his time is running out.

Captaining Jharkhand in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Ishan saved his best for the final against Haryana at Pune’s MCA Stadium by blasting a 45-ball 100 in front of two national selectors on Thursday. The left-handed batter reached the three-figure mark — his second in the tournament — with a one handed-six and broke into a 'Pushpa'-style celebration, the image going viral within minutes. When he finally fell, he had smashed 101 off 49 balls, with 10 sixes and six fours, which left Jharkhand well poised with a total of 262 for three to win the premier domestic T20 tournament.

The squad for the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka is set to be announced in early January, and though it’s a watertight situation for the keeper-batter’s spot thanks to Sanju Samson and Jitesh Sharma, Ishan has not done his case any harm. A timely reminder has, in the past, produced surprise benefits though one has to see if the current dispensation under Gautam Gambhir is favourably inclined towards this talented performer (in category C of central contracts) with a history of ‘attitude problems’. 

Ishan, meanwhile, became only the second batter to score a century in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final, the first being Anmolpreet Singh of Punjab. Now part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad in IPL, Ishan — who kept wickets in Pant’s absence in India’s World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia in 2023, can only realistically focus on a T20I return, if at all.

In nine innings in this edition of the SMAT, Ishan plundered 416 runs at an average of 52.00 in his uninhibited style, which included an unbeaten 113 off 45 balls against Tripura earlier in the campaign. The final only amplified the narrative: a wicketkeeper-batter with international pedigree, out of the India mix for a stretch, now piling on runs in front of an empty stadium with the captain’s armband on.

Did he impress selectors R.P. Singh and Pragyan Ojha, suitably enough? Only time can tell.