Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Ishan Kishan (BCCI/IPL Photo)
NEW DELHI: Watching Vaibhav Sooryavanshi give his all almost left Ishan Kishan stunned, as Sunrisers Hyderabad stood on the field to witness the 15-year-old unleashing towering sixes from the crease into the stands.
Sooryavanshi smashed his second IPL century – a 103 off 37 balls – against Pat Cummins’ SRH.Sooryavanshi’s knock came at a dizzying pace, as he reached the third fastest hundred in IPL history, reaching the milestone with just 36 balls and leading Rajasthan Royals to a massive tally of 228/6.However, SRH had the final say, chasing down the target of 229 runs in nine balls. Ishan led the attack with a 31-ball 74, while Abhishek Sharma scored 57 off 29 deliveries, taking SRH to 229/5 in 18.3 overs.
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It wasn’t just a high-scoring thriller set in Jaipur – it also featured a light-hearted and expressive exchange between Ishaan and hot teen Sooryavanshi.After the match, Ishaan revealed that he had a conversation with the young man who ignited the competition with his explosive innings.“I was just telling him about how crazy he is hitting and how he’s hitting. Sometimes, you’re scared to think what the scorecard would have looked like if he stayed for a few more overs.
“So, it was important for us to get his wicket. It was 228, it could have easily been 258. Cricket is about comebacks. We got him out and came back a little bit there. That’s what I said to him, ‘When I play against you, please be lenient with my team.’ I know all your secrets and inside stories,” Ishaan joked.Ishaan’s comeback storyFor Ishaan, that moment also highlighted how far he has come. His time away from the Indian team was frustrating, but the left-hander continued to do his best in domestic cricket, patiently waiting for his chance – and taking it when it came.He returned to the India team earlier this year for the T20I series against the New Zealand national cricket team and the T20 World Cup, and was called up after a prolific domestic season in which he led Jharkhand to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title by over 500 runs.Given that stage, Ishaan said he chose not to dwell on his absence and instead focused on improving his consistency.“When I wasn’t playing and was out of the team, I told myself I couldn’t cry or be sad about it.
It’s the easiest thing any athlete can do. “It may earn you the sympathy of a few people, and you may feel good about it, but it will get you nowhere,” Ishaan told JioHotstar.“The only thing that could get me back into the reckoning was runs. So, I just wanted to improve my game and score as many runs as I could, even if it meant hitting more sixes than any other batsman.”He added that this stage made him hungrier.“Only consistent scoring can get you back into the team. If 300 runs in one season is not enough, score 400; if not, score 500. At the end of the day, cricket is our daily bread.
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He added: “When you are outside the team, you understand its importance and you start to respect every match. You become hungrier, and that was my focus: to become the best.”Now at number three, Ishan showed that maturity with a 31-ball 74 in the same match, guiding SRH through a steep chase.“Having played for so many years as a No. 3 batsman, if you are prepared, you are looking forward to scoring big and batting until the end. This makes the job easier for the other batsmen with you, because they do not feel the pressure.“That’s my only mindset, to keep things as simple as possible, be in a good headspace, and take it one game at a time. If we play a good game of cricket, the rest of the team will learn from that.”“At the end of the day, it’s a team sport. When you play a good game of cricket, it affects others. I also made a lot of mistakes, so my only aim is not to repeat them, which I unfortunately did in the end in this match,” he added.