Yuvraj Singh credits IPL exposure for Ishan Kishan’s “fearless” India debut

Yuvraj Singh credited Ishan Kishan’s Indian Premier League (IPL) experience at a young age for the latter’s explosive and fearless international debut. The former India cricketer, who played alongside Ishan Kishan for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2019, also praised Virat Kohli for regaining his form.

In his first outing for India, Ishan Kishan opened the batting and blasted a 32-ball 56 against the No.1-ranked T20I side, England. His knock in the second game of the 5-T20I series at Ahmedabad helped his side level the series 1-1.

The match also saw Indian captain Virat Kohli end his run drought with a match-defining unbeaten 49-ball 73. He added 94 runs for the second wicket with Ishan Kishan off just 54 balls to help India complete the 165-run chase in the 18th over.

Expressing his thoughts on Twitter, Yuvraj posted:

Going berserk from ball one, the 22-year-old Ishan Kishan smashed 5 fours and 4 sixes in his knock and went on to bag the player of the match award.

Meanwhile, Yuvraj Singh, 39, has been in the limelight as well for his hitting form. In the 13th match of the Road Safety World Series at Raipur, Yuvraj blasted a 22-ball 52 not out for India Legends against the South Africa Legends to guide the Indian side to the top of the table. He turned back the clocks, smashing four consecutive sixes in an over.

Ishan Kishan made his IPL debut at 17

Ishan Kishan made his IPL debut for Gujarat Lions at the age of 17. Fresh from the under-19 World Cup success in 2016, the youngster played his first two seasons for the Gujarat-based franchise without much success.

Ishan Kishan playing for Gujarat Lions (Photo: Twitter)

In 2018, Ishan Kishan was picked by Mumbai Indians for a whopping INR 5.2 crore and he showed glimpses of his brilliance. However, it was only in the 2020 edition that he came into his own and made a massive impact, helping the Mumbai side retain the IPL Trophy.

Kishan amassed 517 runs at 57.33, striking at 145.8.Over the years, Ishan Kishan has only grown in stature in domestic cricket for Jharkhand.

A stage as big as the IPL and the limelight that follows has helped young cricketers like Kishan, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw etc., be well prepared for the international stage.