Ishan Kishan

Prodigies aren't uncommon in Indian cricket. What's unusual in Ishan Kishan's journey is the fact that it's roots originate in Jharkhand. With MS Dhoni - the biggest and perhaps only noteworthy name to have come out of the newly carved out state, it's no surprise that the young kid took to become a wicket-keeping batsman.

A left-handed opener, Kishan's first claim to fame came in 2016 when he was picked to lead the India under-19s for the u-19 World Cup held in Dhaka. Despite a lean run with the bat (73 runs in six innings), in a tournament where Rishabh Pant lit up the scoring charts, he took India to the finals. He was however quick to turn his fortunes around in the domestic Ranji season that was to follow - ending up as Jharkhand's leading run-scorer with 799 runs. That included a career best 273 against Delhi, the highest till date by a Jharkhand batsman.

In the post-Dhoni era in Indian cricket, he's thrown his hat into the club of wicketkeeper-batsmen waiting in the wings to replace him.

IPL through the years

A young wicketkeeper-batsman from Jharkhand who has made his name through a brand of attacking cricket (ring a bell?), Ishan Kishan has gained tremendously from the platform that the IPL has provided. He impressed with his lower-order hitting for the Gujarat Lions in 2017, and was at the receiving end of a windfall in the 2018 IPL auctions, where the Mumbai Indians won a bidding war and bagged his services for INR 6.2 crores.

After a promising start to the 2018 season, his form nosedived through the middle of the tournament, but the flashes of brilliance were still there, like his whirlwind 21-ball 62 against the Kolkata Knight Riders, which included four consecutive sixes off Kuldeep Yadav. His consistency may not have been the greatest, but he was able to finish the season with a superb strike-rate of close to 150.

Written by - Vineet Anantharaman