Delhi: The most difficult phase for any player in international cricket is when he is dropped from the national team. In such a situation, the path of comeback is not easy, but in the last one year, Ishan Kishan has shown how to make a comeback with the help of right thinking and hard work.
After captaining East Zone and playing an innings of 270 runs against South Zone in the final of Duleep Trophy 2026, 28-year-old Ishan Kishan spoke openly about being out of the team, returning to domestic cricket and the changes that have happened within him.
Also read: Top-5 batsmen who played the biggest innings in the Duleep Trophy final, know which number Ishan Kishan reached
Ishaan returns to domestic cricket after being out of Team India
On the experience of being out of the Indian team and returning to domestic cricket, Ishan said,
“When you are playing for the Indian team continuously, you just go on playing in a flow. You are obviously a good player, that is why you are playing for India, but after a point of time, your development stops there. When you take a step back and come back to domestic cricket, you have to start from zero.”
“To come back you have to perform better than before”
Ishaan further said that then you start thinking that I have to become better. Today, so many players are scoring runs consistently that if you want to make a comeback, you will have to perform much better than them.
A double in the Duleep Trophy final for Ishan Kishan đź‘Ź pic.twitter.com/1PvXZJlMIP
— Cricinfo (@cricinfo) September 7, 2026
You get a chance to sit back and think about where you went wrong earlier, why you were not able to convert a good start into a big score. To be honest, your batting does not change much, only your thinking changes with time.
Captaincy made Ishan Kishan a better player
Ishan, who made Jharkhand win the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy without losing any match under his captaincy last year, believes that captaincy has made him a better batsman and a mature person.
Captain Ishaan further said that when you are the captain of the team, the first thing is to understand the situation of the match. You have to be alert the whole day on the field, what is going right and what is wrong. You have to take care of all your teammates.”
Also read: Ishan Kishan's double blast, created history by scoring a double century, East Zone scored 708 runs in the Duleep Trophy final.
Ishaan's thinking changed after becoming captain
Ishaan completed his statement by saying,
“Usually, we overlook many small things in our daily routine—like just coming on the field, batting in the net session and walking away. You can't help but look at other players and think about how they can improve. But when you are the captain, it becomes your responsibility to help them. When your teammates improve, the team goal is also achieved in the end. This whole process brings about a huge personal change in you. Even if you don't realize it immediately, You may not realize it, but your thinking changes and you become much calmer about things.”