Is Ishan Kishan being overrated? Should he play all 3 formats for India?

Every time Ishan Kishan walks out to bat, the commentators seem to pull out a few familiar phrases out of their vocabularies: “Pocket-sized Dynamite”, “Explosive Opener”, “Dangerous Batter” etc. Though clichéd and grossly overused, there is a reason why the left hander is described using those particular expressions.

Anybody who’s watched an Ishan Kishan special – like this one recently in Bangladesh – knows how menacing he can be. Yet, when you look at his numbers, they paint an image that is the complete opposite.

Having said that, Team India seems to have put an immense amount of faith in the wicketkeeper-batsman. Kishan has been a regular in the T20 team for a while now. After his double century against Bangladesh, he is undoubtedly expected to be given a rope in the ODIs. And with Rishabh Pant missing, he’s also got a call-up for the Test team.

He is young, left-handed, can bat anywhere in the order and keep wickets. Furthermore, he has also been a successful captain at the U19 level. It’s a package that, despite India’s bountiful resources of talent, is not easily available. However, are we looking at more smoke than fire?

Has Ishan Kishan been overvalued by team India?

“All that glitters is not gold.”

– Popular Saying

He is into just the second year of his international career and a few times already, he’s sparkled. But with a talent pool as big as India’s, putting on a show once in a while isn’t good enough. The loud inconsistency depicted by his numbers begs the question, “Is he actually gold or just glitter?”

Here is a look at Kishan’s performances across formats:-

Kishan in T20Is: A ‘not so explosive’ opener

Ishan Kishan’s overall record in T20Is:-

While there should be no complains about a batter averaging 25 in T20Is, it’s the strike rate that is disappointing. An “explosive opener” is expected to make the most of the powerplay, which Kishan clearly hasn’t been able to. In fact, his strike rate in the power play plummets to 113.62. Here’s a look at his numbers in the powerplay:-

That tells you that more often than not Kishan starts sedately and makes up for it afterwards. However, for a long time now, he hasn’t quite been able to notch up a big innings. His last fifty was 15 matches ago and this is how his record looks like since:-

Surely those numbers aren’t good enough to keep your place in the side, let alone with openers like Shaw and keepers like Samson and Jitesh waiting in the wings.

Kishan in ODIs: Satisfactory or skewed by one innings?

Ishan Kishan’s ODI record:-

His ODI record looks far more handsome. The fact that he’s been floated up and down the order as per team’s requirements, makes it even prettier. But how much of it is skewed by that one mammoth innings against Bangladesh? What happens when we take that innings out? This is how his record looks without the double century knock:-

As you can see, the record plummets to fairly ordinary numbers. Although one can argue that the sample size is not huge; and after all, this is after we’ve cherry-picked and taken out his best innings. Yet, there is a counter argument to that. And that is Kishan’s List A record.

Again, a modest record without anything remarkable really. And as a matter of fact, 90 games is a huge sample size even if the first of those was played back when he was a 15 year old.

Kishan’s selection in the Test squad

Even with his numbers imploring that inconsistency is consistent with Kishan, you understand why teams tend to rate him well in white ball cricket. It is because when he gets going he can single-handedly obliterate opposition’s attacks and win you matches. However, his selection in the Test team against Australia is bewildering and unfathomable.

With Rishabh Pant unavailable, KS Bharat – who is largely considered the best gloveman in the country – is expected to take his spot. Bharat, pretty much like Wridhimann Saha, is not the best batter who can keep wickets, but purely the best wicketkeeper. And it makes sense to pick him. After all, you need a skilled keeper on turning tracks and the fact that Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar can bat will allow India to include him in the XI.

Yet, it’s hard to understand why would you pick Ishan Kishan as his backup? Here is a look at Kishan’s first-class record:-

Neither is Kishan the best keeper in the country, nor is his batting record worth turning heads. In fact, the Jharkhand southpaw has only played a total of 4 Ranji Trophy matches across last 3 seasons: Two in 2019/20, none in 2021/22 and again two in 2022/23. Moreover, in the two matches he played this season, he didn’t even keep wickets.

Now compare that to, say, Akshay Wadkar who averages 53.31 across 60 first class innings and has been Vidarbha’s first choice keeper. (Not to forget the first Test is at Nagpur, Vidarbha’s home ground). Or Sheldon Jackson, who averages 48.79 with the bat and is a far superior gloveman.

Perhaps, the selectors wanted a player in the mould of Pant: left handed dasher who can take the game on and turn it on its head. Howbeit, there is the difference of day and night in the first class records of Pant and Kishan.

So, Is Kishan being overrated by team India?

Sports can be funny at times. I am pretty sure, a lot of articles along the same lines were written for Rohit Sharma as well as Ravindra Jadeja at the beginning of the last decade. Both of them, metamorphosed into players who can walk into any international XI today. Similarly, there is little doubt about Kishan’s talent and potential. Albeit, it would not be wrong to say that he hasn’t quite delivered as per expectations yet. In the upcoming months, he will have the opportunities to set that right. Though, with many people biting at his heels, those opportunities will diminish fast.

By

Darpan Tikiya