Sanjay Manjrekar highlights Ishan Kishan’s evolution, admits he once doubted his India future

Cricknation Update: Sanjay Manjrekar highlights Ishan Kishan’s evolution, admits he once doubted his India future (Photo Source: BCCI) Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar praised Ishan Kishan for his batting evolution during India’s Asian Games semi-final against Sri Lanka, pointing out how the left-hander has developed his game and learned to adt to different conditions.

Speaking during the innings break on Sony Sports Network, Manjrekar reflected on Kishan’s journey from being an aggressive, power-packed batsman to a more complete player. He also compared his development with that of Rishabh Pant, with whom Kishan played during his India Under-19 days. Manjrekar said that the biggest question at the beginning of Kishan’s career was whether he could adjust his strategy according to different situations and circumstances.

“Can he adjust to different conditions? And I maintain that in the last three months, Ishan Kishan has notched up another sort of stage in his career,” he said. The former India batter then recalled watching Kishan alongside Pant during the 2016 Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh.

According to Manjrekar, Kishan’s early proach was heavily reliant on power, with his technique and balance still needing work. “I thought he was inspired by Rishabh Pant. They played together in the India Under-19 World Cup that hpened in Bangladesh, where you thought he was trying to muscle the ball too much, a bit too much.

His body and balance weren’t that great,” Manjrekar said. However, Manjrekar believes Kishan has now added greater control and adtability to his natural attacking game. His assessment came after Kishan played a crucial unbeaten inning of 80 off 46 balls in the semi-final, while India were losing wickets regularly at the other end.

The former batter specifically highlighted Kishan’s shot selection and balance on a slow surface, pointing to his ability to assess where the ball is and adjust his response accordingly. “But now, when you look at the shots that he’s played, there is great balance. This is a perfect execution of the reverse lofted sweep.

This guy worked out that if the ball is far, I’m going to stay back and play the cut shot or the full shot,” he said. Manjrekar further explained how Kishan was able to hit his straight high shots despite the lack of pace on the surface. “And every time he lofted it straight, you see that the ball is right under his bat.

Manjrekar said, it is a slow pitch and this player has worked on it. Manjrekar admits that he once had doubts over Kishan’s India future, however, Manjrekar’s strongest admission came when he reflected on the period when Kishan’s place in the Indian setup was uncertain despite making one of the greatest individual innings in ODI cricket. Kishan famously scored a double century against Bangladesh in December 2022, becoming the youngest batter to reach the landmark in men’s ODIs.

However, after that he struggled to establish himself as a regular in all formats, with competition for places also increasing. Reflecting on Kishan’s journey since then, Manjrekar admitted that there was a stage when he wondered whether the left-hander would remain part of India’s plans. “I believe he is at a level where he is batting the best he has ever done, and I am really hpy for him because there was a time when you thought this guy would dispear from the Indian scene after scoring a double century at the one-day level.

So, nice evolution of his,” Manjrekar said. Kishan’s knock proved particularly important as India finished their innings on 169/7. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, bowling fast, scored 38 runs before being dismissed.

Abhishek Sharma also fell while trying to take on the bowling, leaving Kishan to play a more controlled innings. The contradictions in efforts underline the development that Manjrekar was referring to, with Kishan showing the ability to balance aggression with better shot selection on a challenging surface.