Will Kishan 2.0 be unleashed at SRH?

For bowlers going up against Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2024, blunting two belligerent left-hand batters in Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma at the top of the order was hard enough.

By the looks of the boundary-hitting mayhem that transpired at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday in SRH’s opening match of IPL 2025, their job has become more onerous with the addition of another explosive left-hander, Ishan Kishan, to a Sunrisers batting unit brimming with firepower. Besides his dashing strokeplay, the fact that the 26-year-old, neglected by the national selectors over the past year, has a point or two to prove makes him all the more potent.

Just ask Rajasthan Royals. Its bowling unit may not be as distinguished as it was during the previous few seasons, particularly in the spin department where R. Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal have moved on to other teams. Nevertheless, Jofra Archer at full pelt is still a fearsome proposition. Sandeep Sharma is a wily operator predisposed to subtle changes of pace. Maheesh Theekshana carries an element of mystery to his off-spin.

None of them, though, was able to check the carnage on a hot afternoon in Uppal as Sunrisers rode on Kishan’s first-ever IPL century – a 47-ball 106 — to amass 286 for six. The day when Pat Cummins & Co. breach the 300-run barrier in the IPL doesn’t seem far away.

Business as usual

In many ways, this was business as usual for the men clad in bright orange and black-striped jerseys.

Yes, all the squads underwent a shake-up during the latest mega auction, but given the spectacular success that SRH had last season, it was prudent in retaining most of its core and continuing with the modus operandi that made it flourish and finish runner-up.

Unfettered

The run in 2024 was built on an unfettered batting approach: it sauntered past totals of 250 thrice, including a best of 287 for three against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

That free-spirited outlook is very much intact. While Abhishek and Head getting off the blocks in blazing fashion at the start of an innings has become standard practice – they took a mere 3.1 overs to add 45 runs for the first wicket against RR – Kishan’s presence at No. 3 adds another dangerous dimension to SRH’s batting line-up. Ample proof of that was available on Sunday.

Change for the better

The change in surroundings should bode well for Kishan. Although Mumbai Indians considered the wicketkeeper-batter valuable enough to have him spend seven seasons at the franchise, he was frankly never going to be the main man in a star-studded ensemble. He was a player of utility, carrying out his work diligently behind the stumps as well as batting anywhere in the top-five to suit MI’s needs.

But if Kishan was to come of age and step out of the shadow of the towering personalities dominating the MI dressing room, the time was right for newer avenues to be sought.

Fresh chapter

The opportunity to script a fresh chapter was provided by SRH when it shelled out ₹11.25 crore for Kishan’s services. At the post-match presser on Sunday, after winning the Player-of-the-Match award, Kishan recalled his frame of mind after joining Sunrisers.

“I straightaway called Abhishek (Sharma) and asked, ‘what are you guys expecting? Do I have to hit each and every ball?’ He said that was my job. It is about enjoyment with this team. That is the best part,” Kishan said. “I could feel it before this game. When I got here, the message was very clear. If the ball is there, go for it. That’s how we are going to play in this tournament.”

At crossroads

In the lead-up to this year’s IPL, Kishan’s career has been at a crossroads. He has been out of the fray for India since asking for a break and returning home ahead of a two-Test series in South Africa in December 2023. While the decision to ask for a breather per se may not have held dire consequences, what jeopardised Kishan’s position was his prolonged absence from the Ranji Trophy at the beginning of 2024.

He was subsequently omitted from the list of central contracts by the BCCI, and didn’t help himself by enduring a middling IPL season for MI.

Although Shreyas Iyer was also denied a contract as a punishment for skipping the domestic competition, the middle-order batter eventually found favour again because he was an intrinsic part of India’s ODI team. Kishan, on the other hand, was able to be discarded from all three formats without second thought.

You could argue that Kishan has often had the rough end of the stick on India duty.

Conjecture

Even before the South Africa tour where conjecture in the corridors of Indian cricket was that all was not well between Kishan and the team management, which was then helmed by Rahul Dravid (incidentally RR’s head coach now), there were instances where his performances didn’t merit being dropped. Despite hitting a double hundred against Bangladesh in December 2022, for instance, he sat out India’s next three ODIs against Sri Lanka in January 2023 because his inclusion in the first place had come due to an injury to Shubman Gill. Later in the year, too, Kishan grabbed his opportunity against Pakistan in the opening match of the Asia Cup with a knock of 82 when the team was in strife, but had to return to the bench once K.L. Rahul regained his fitness and form.

Time to look ahead

All that has to be water under the bridge now. “Whatever the situation was, I was never a person thinking about those bad moments,” Kishan said in reflection of the past 15 months. “I was very much in the present, I needed to perform and do what’s good for me. I just planned to get all the negative thoughts out and think about what’s ahead. I knew with the IPL coming up, I needed to face some good bowlers. I was just doing my hard work.”

At SRH, even with Head well-established and Abhishek rising in stature, the early signs are that Kishan will have his share of chances to take centre-stage. Just as he did on Sunday.

“To be very honest, the nervousness was there; I won’t deny that,” said Kishan of his emotions leading up to his debut for SRH.

“Pat (Cummins) and the coach gave a lot of confidence. I just enjoyed my time in the middle. The preparation was very good. You can see Abhishek and Head playing that sort of game, and you get that confidence.”

Kishan’s appreciation of the encouragement offered by skipper Pat Cummins and coach Daniel Vettori may seem like merely the correct thing to say. But for multiple players in the SRH camp to credit the captain-coach combine for creating a conducive environment where they are allowed to thrive suggests that the leadership group is doing something right.

The freedom for Kishan to play as he deems fit, of course, is one bit.

But for the southpaw to then have the range and attributes to pull off a no-holds-barred approach is quite another. Kishan has the tools to do the latter.

In his highlights-worthy effort on Sunday, a couple of shots against Archer encapsulated Kishan’s gifts with the willow. In the 13th over, with Archer steaming in, Kishan didn’t hesitate for a moment as he offered himself room and carved the pacer inside-out over cover for two sixes.

That the knock meant a great deal to the southpaw was evident in his celebration on reaching the three-figure mark.

As he was running back for the second run after drilling Sandeep Sharma to long-off in the 19th over, he lifted his helmet, raised his bat and took his time to soak in the resounding applause of the crowd.

Special

“My celebration was for my family and the ones who were supporting me today. My brother was there (in the crowd). There was emotion, coming to SRH, playing my first game and setting up a good total for the team,” he would say later.

Amid the euphoria of a high-flying start to his SRH career, however, Kishan shouldn’t forget the bigger picture.

Which is to win over his critics and ultimately find his way back into the national reckoning through sheer weight of runs. For that, the glimpses of Kishan 2.0 that we saw on Sunday will have to be sustained for many more of the coming weeks.