The wicket-keeper batter of the Indian team, Ishan Kishan, has displayed a different style of his cricket, as he turned into an off-spinner, becoming the latest player of the Blue Brigade to roll his arm for some part-time bowling for Jharkhand during the ongoing Buchi Babu tournament.
The 26-year-old has featured in only one Test series in the Caribbean, more than a year ago, when their regular wicket-keeper of the side, Rishabh Pant, was absent in the game due to an injury he picked in an unfortunate car accident.
Ishan Kishan showed great resilience and skills with the bat in hand, which pushed his chance to be the wicket-keeper of the side in South Africa towards the end of the last year. But, because he left the country in the middle of the series, KL Rahul kept wickets in his place.
Watch: Off-spinner Ishan Kishan Roll his arms against Hyderabad
Ishan Kishan wasn’t picked for the five-match Test series against England at home before he was ruled out from the central contract list due to not playing the last season of domestic cricket.
Also Read: Sri Lanka Coach Compares Asitha Fernando With Mohammad Asif For This Reason
But times have changed, and the batter has focused on making a return to the red-ball set-up in the Indian team. The Blue Brigade will be playing ten games of the five-day games by the start of the next year, five of which will be at home against Bangladesh and New Zealand, while the rest of the five will be in Australia during the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25.
The Bihar-born has been added to the Duleep Trophy 2024 squad, before which he is leading the Jharkhand side for the invitational Buchi Babu tournament. In the very first game, Ishan Kishan showed his incredible athletics with the wicket-keeping gloves, besides notching up a century with the bat in an aggressive mode.
However, the second game was a different story against the Hyderabad side. Jharkhand began the encounter, deciding to bat first, where the captain failed to make a significant impact with a score of one run in 11 deliveries.
However, the first innings of Hyderabad, with the bat in hand, caught a lot of focus and attention for the side, as Ishan Kishan moved up from his wicket-keeping responsibilities to roll his arms as an off-spinner.
The Bowler Ishan Kishan in the town you all 😎🔥@ishankishan51 #IshanKishan #BuchiBabuTournament pic.twitter.com/AvgkAfDibE
— Ishan’s💙🧘♀️ (@IshanWK32) August 22, 2024
He bowled a couple of overs, which went for five runs without bringing any success, as the clip, which has gone viral found the left-handed batter of the Hyderabad quite simply timed the ball for a single. He has bowled twice in the first-class games, where he has given away 19 runs in 30 balls.
Jharkhand, under the leadership of Ishan Kishan, didn’t turn up with the bat, posting only 178 in the first innings, as the opponents showed an exceptional performance with the bat, posting 293 runs in the first innings, gaining a lead of 115 runs.
Also Read: Matthew Hayden Admits Australia’s Love For Rishabh Pant Despite 2020-21 Heroics
In the second innings, the same story continued for Ishan’s side, as they could manage only 140 runs before their opponents chased down a total of 26 runs with nine wickets in hand.
Ishan Kishan, who has captured 3063 runs in 50 FC games at an average of just under 40 and a strike rate of nearly 70, shouldering on his 17 half-centuries and six centuries, will look to get back in form and score a mountain of runs in the upcoming season of the Duleep Trophy, which would open his door of making a comeback in the Indian side.
