“He is going to be retained” - Former all-rounder’s huge statement on Ishan Kishan after RCB vs SRH IPL 2025 match

Former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody has predicted that Ishan Kishan will be retained by the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) ahead of IPL 2026. Moody's comments came after the 26-year-old's brilliance against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Friday, May 23, at Lucknow's Ekana International Stadium.

Although Kishan started IPL 2025 with a hundred against the Rajasthan Royals (RR), he failed to score even a fifty in the following matches. However, the southpaw batted throughout the innings against RCB after walking out in the fifth over. The youngster's unbeaten 94 off 48 deliveries propelled the SunRisers to a match-winning total of 231/6. They then restricted RCB to 189.

After SRH's 42-run win, the former SunRisers coach said that amid his poor form, there would have been talks of releasing Kishan, who was picked up for ₹11.25 crore at the mega auction. However, the 59-year-old believes Kishan's 94* has secured his place on the team for the next season. He elaborated, as quoted by India Today:

"Ishan Kishan would have been under a lot of pressure going into tonight's game. He would have felt that, given he had a poor season, even though he started very well. You can guarantee that around the franchise there would have been talks like, 'Do we keep him? Do we not? How do we go about it?' But today, Ishan has made it very clear that he is going to be retained. His composure stood out, and his continued braveness to take the game on stood out."

The Royal Challengers began their chase exceedingly well, as Phil Salt (62 off 32) and Virat Kohli (43 off 25) amassed 72 runs in the powerplay. It was Eshan Malinga's third over (16th of the innings) that tilted the scales massively in the SunRisers' favor. Malinga removed Romario Shepherd for a duck after running out Rajat Patidar (18).

"I could have done so much better" - Ishan Kishan on his IPL 2025 campaign

Ishan Kishan. (Image Credits: Getty)

After securing the 'Player of the Match' award on Friday, the keeper-batter said he was not happy with his performance in the tournament. Ishan Kishan said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo:

"It's important to just watch the ball and play your game. The moment I saw Abhishek and Travis Head starting the game like that, I knew it was a very good track... I was just thinking about playing those good shots. Plan was very simple. Not so happy with the performance overall; I could have done so much better. It's a game of learning. You have to keep working hard."

In 13 matches (12 innings) this season, Kishan has scored 325 runs at an average of 36.11 and a strike rate of 153.30.

The SunRisers' final league match will be against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Sunday, May 25, in New Delhi.